Signs of Support for Federal Telework Growing

WASHINGTON, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- FedScoop released a report today indicating that federal managers may be gradually changing their minds about the feasibility of allowing their employees to telework. Managers who let their employees telework are overwhelmingly positive about those employees' performances.

According to the survey, underwritten by Intel Corporation and Cisco Systems Inc. and conducted by FedScoop, the vast majority of federal managers who have employees that telework both trust them to work remotely and are satisfied with the quality of the work done.

"The results of the survey were very promising, 95 percent of federal employees surveyed feel positively towards telework, 93 percent of managers said they are satisfied with work done remotely and 81 percent agree that their management ability is unaffected by telework," said Goldy Kamali, founder and president of FedScoop. "It's encouraging to see that managers who provide that opportunity are pleased with the results."

Other data from the FedScoop survey indicate there are still issues in accepting the practice:

• 64 percent of private sector IT respondents said they telework regularly or exclusively, compared to 23 percent of federal IT employees;
• Just six percent of private sector respondents said their employers do not provide them with sufficient technology to telework, compared to 22 percent of federal employees; and
• 23 percent of federal respondents said they have never talked to their managers about telework.

"It is encouraging that telework is becoming more accepted amongst federal workers. OPM Director John Berry's leadership, and the support of labor unions, have been instrumental in this shift," said Nigel Ballard, director of federal marketing at Intel. "A more mobile workplace environment helps federal agencies compete with the private sector in hiring and retaining the best and the brightest. More than ever, work is something we do as opposed to someplace we go."

These findings follow the U.S. Senate's May 24th passage of S. 707, the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, intended to expand federal employees' use of the option by specifying steps agencies must take to make telework available. The House of Representatives is expected to consider the legislation by the end of this session.

The entire study is available for download at www.fedscoop.com.

About FedScoop

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SOURCE FedScoop