The Telework Divide

Abstract

Telework is an increasingly common feature of government agencies. Long a practice in the private sector, telework is credited with a range of advantages from increased productivity to reduced environmental costs to society. These advantages may not accrue to all employees, however. Large-sample federal government surveys of employees reveal support for many of the claimed advantages of telework, but taken together they also raise significant questions about the seldom-discussed costs of telework: The impact on those barred from telework. In particular, the results reveal what may be disaffection among those whose jobs may be eligible for teleworking under new Office of Personnel Management guidelines, but whose managers have not allowed them to telework. The findings also raise questions about the consequences of expanding telework to larger populations of government workers and suggest the need for further research on the possibility of an emerging telework divide.