Onto these projections is then projected a further estimate of the likely growth in teleworking. The earliest literature on the subject focused almost exclusively on the opportunities teleworking creates for subsituting electronic communication for physical travel. A teleworker produces a report more quickly than a comparable worker based in an office. It could help to reduce unemployment and bring to the labour market groups which were previously excluded because they were unable to offer themselves for full-time work. The new technologies can bring about improvements in the quality of life, through the introduction of new services such as telemedicine, telebanking, teleshopping.
Equality of opportunities are another aspect.
On the other hand, there are no promotion prospects and their pay levels are lower than for comparable on-site staff. There is a strong case to be made for joint research on individual forms of teleworking, which could be satisfactorily quantified by means of a general population survey with supplementary information.