Social effects of Telecommuting - Essay Example

Social effects of Telecommuting Telecommuting refers to the way employees of some organizations are permitted to work in their homes away from a centralized workplace using available information technologies. In such cases, the workers do not have to go to work, but instead, all the work that they need to do is sent to them through information technologies such as the internet. Telecommuting involves individuals working at a place that is convenient for them and this may include at home, or at a coffee shop. Telecommuting has been a growing trend since the 1970s and it is increasingly becoming popular especially because many companies have little office space to spare. This system has been taken advantage of by many companies because they not only save on office space, but it also allows them to get more work done by having more employees without having to create space for them to work. When telecommuting home ends up becoming the workplace of an individual and because of this, such an individual will always equip his or her home to ensure that it is a comfortable working environment. Consequently, the differences between home and work eventually become blurred, and the privacy that the home provided ends up being lost. This means that home is no longer seen to be a refuge from a hard day’s work, but an extension of the workplace. Such situations may be problematic for some individuals because it leads to an increase in work related stress and other psychological conditions. In addition, the traditional way through which people worked and interacted at the office is lost, since the close proximity and interpersonal interactions that could be achieved at the workplace is lost. Telecommuting encourages the isolation of an individual from any form of social life and this may be detrimental to such a person’s mental health (Burger, et al 39). However, despite this isolation, by telecommuting, individuals save plenty of time which they can use working, hence an increase in productivity. In addition, with the development of new information technologies every day, the aspect of complete isolation will be completely lost in a few years, since there will be a renewal of interaction between workers through video technologies. Such technologies will ensure that workers are able to see each other without any need for physical interaction, meaning that most of the work related activities will still be able to be done in the comfort of one’s home (Dombrow 685). Moreover, telecommuting brings about changes in the working patterns of individuals, especially those who have other obligations besides work. Among these are parents, who, because of their ability to work at home, get to spend more time with their children, something that is often beneficial for the latter (Iscan and Naktiyok 53). In addition, telecommuting enables those individuals who would otherwise not have been allowed in the workforce, in most cases disabled people, to be able to work from the comfort of their own homes, and this ensures that their levels of self-esteem due to the work they are doing is high. Furthermore, the feeling of isolation that such individuals may have is often removed due to their not having to go through the cumbersome effort of having to get to the workplace. Instead, the easy access to video calls and other technologies enables them to be able to communicate easily with their fellow workers. Moreover, telecommuting gives individuals the opportunity to continue working way past the age when they would have thought of retiring, because they do not have to spend plenty of time getting to work, instead working from home. Therefore, it has ensured that many people past their retirement age have remained productive and they are not under any pressure to stop working. This has created a situation where the knowledge and skills of individuals with years of experience have been retained, not only for the benefit of the company for which they work, but also for the individuals themselves, who feel that they are still useful to the society, even when well past their prime. While telecommuting has many positive effects, it also has a good measure of negative ones. Among these is the fact that although it enables individuals to be able to work from home, it also has the effect of further creating a division between the various social and economic classes. Such divisions would be created because of the fact that many of people often choose to live in close proximity to their workplaces, but with telecommuting, this need would be made redundant. Since wealthy individuals no longer have the need to work from their offices, but from the comfort of their homes, they would more likely move from the cities to the rural areas. This movement of capital from the cities would be detrimental to them and would create a situation that would inevitably lead to their eventual decline. The lower classes in societies, on the other hand, because of their limited economic ability would have no other option than having to remain in the declining cities. It has been found that the ability to telecommute depends on an individual’s access to computers. This is a disadvantage for those who have low incomes and are unable to access this important piece of technology. The ability to telecommute is currently the reserve of those who are fairly well off, but this may soon change because of the increasingly cheaper computers that are coming into the market. In conclusion, it can be said that telecommuting is a growing trend in the world today, and it has enabled individuals to work in the comfort of their own homes. It has also proven useful for parents who have come to be able to spend more time with their children, especially when one considers that there are an increasing number of single parents. While this may be so, it has also created a situation that may eventually lead to the further division of the social classes and the decline of the cities. It can only be hoped that while the positive social effects of telecommuting are recognized, the negative ones are also discovered, and action taken to ensure that they are not detrimental to the society. Works Cited Burger, Dale, et al. "Telecommuting (Feature Report)." Computing Canada Mar 17 1997: 37-42. Dombrow, Jennifer C. "Electronic Communications and the Law: Help Or Hindrance to Telecommuting?" Federal Communications Law Journal 50.3 (1998): 685-709.. Iscan, Omer Faruk, and Naktiyok, Atilhan. "Attitudes Towards Telecommuting: The Turkish Case." Journal of Information Technology 20.1 (2005): 52-63. Read More