Companies Taking Action to Keep Employees out of the Office

October 7, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new survey finds organizations are realizing the benefits of a telecommuting workforce and are addressing the challenges in allowing employees to do so.

The CompTIA study of 212 IT and other professionals in a range of industries shows that the benefits of telecommuting to organizations include improved employee productivity (67%), cost savings (59%), access to more qualified staff (39%), employee retention (37%), and improved employee health (25%). However, the respondents cited challenges also, including securing corporate information systems (53%), limiting use of unauthorized and unsupported devices (38%), and controlling personal use of corporate mobile assets (33%).

In a summary of survey findings, ComTIA said measures that organizations have taken to meet challenges of telecommuting include upgrades in network circuits and VPN equipment, expanded security, training, and implementation of new virtualization technologies and applications.

The study conducted in August and September of professionals in a range of industries, including but not limited to IT, government, education, insurance, and telecommunications found 78% report that some employees within their organizations telecommute at least part-time, but 82% say less than 25% of employees telecommute full-time.

Employees in IT management (41%), field technical support (37%), and administration (35%) most commonly telecommute, according to the study results.

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