It also presents opportunities to secure wider social benefits - for example by reducing the environmental impact of car travel. Management Technology Associates has conducted several studies to obtain and analyse the views of experienced teleworkers and of managers who have experience in working with teleworkers. The following summary of the benefits includes only those aspects where a majority of experienced teleworkers and managers concur that a worthwhile benefit has been obtained. Note that benefits only accrue from successful telework programmes, and that some companies have attempted telework programmes but subsequently reverted to office based working having had a negative experience. The main savings are in premises costs, office overheads and labour.
Companies adopting telework methods achieve significant reductions in total office occupancy.
Work can be carried out wherever the appropriate skills are available at the optimum mix of costs and other factors. Teleworkers avoid travel time and the interruptions of a office environment. Both teleworkers and their managers consistently report significant productivity gains. In successful programmes, employees respond well to the signal of trust and confidence indicated by the employer's adoption of more independent work styles encouraged by teleworking. Skills retention Employees who might otherwise leave can remain in their jobs, for example when the family moves because of a job change by another family member who works in a non-telework company.