Jennifer Luddy of Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Nine Shift seminar in Ft. Lauderdale.
Jennifer Luddy with a LERN member organization in Lowell, Massachusetts, says that at her organization Gen Yers hired as new staff now “assume” they will be able to telework in their positions. This is the first report of a program facing the issue of Gen Y “assuming” telework as a given in the workplace. It also means that the issues of flexible work and managing from a distance can no longer be postponed by institutions.
Exploring flexible scheduling for work was named as one of the top things to do by the senior administrators attending the Nine Shift seminar.
Some of the recent evidence:
- A survey of young people found that 85 percent of them want to work between 30 percent and 70 percent of their time from home.
- The number of teleworkers grew 75 percent between 2005 and 2011, according to Global Workplace Analytics.
- Telecommuting is now named as one of the top three reasons why people are driving less.
- A survey by Wrike found that 66 percent of respondents think their office might go fully virtual within five years.
- Another study, this one published in the January-February 2014 issue of Harvard Business Review, found that teleworkers were more productive than office workers.
- Teleworkers are 25 percent more productive than office workers. They also work longer hours.
LERN can assist your institution institute flex time policies and structure your telecommuting to be successful. LERN has been a fully virtual organization for 15 years, with about 75 percent of staff working from home. Just email Tammy at info@lern.org to find out about our consulting on creating flextime and telecommuting policies and procedures.