Technology barriers said to hinder telecommuting

While reluctance on the part of federal managers is often touted as the biggest barrier to expansion of telecommuting across the federal government, more practical matters, such as retrieving office e-mail from home, can also keep employees from using their homes as satellite work sites, the Office of Personnel Management says. According to OPM, just 2.6 percent of the 1.7 million civilian federal employees telecommute at least once a week. That percentage rises slightly when you include employees who telecommute less than once a week. Some of the barriers that keep federal workers from telecommuting include the reluctance of managers, budget restrictions, concerns about computer security, technology hurdles and fears by employees that they'll become out of touch with the workplace. To better assess the nettlesome technological barriers to telecommuting, the General Services Administration hired consulting firm Booz-Allen Hamilton in October to survey employees in 10 federal agencies. Agencies surveyed included the Commerce, Justice, Interior, Treasury, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services departments, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, the General Services Administration and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. During the past few months, interviewers talked to staff members of the 10 agencies' chief information officers as well as the agencies' telework coordinators. They also sent Web-based questionnaires to agency managers and telecommuters. The interviewers hoped to gain more information about equipment, technical support, budget and security needs and accessibility for people with disabilities in order to resolve such impediments to telecommuting. The survey drilled down to the everyday annoyances that telecommuters who work from home must deal with-computers that crash, software files that can't be opened, printers that jam and Internet connections and fax machines that require additional phone lines. Agencies were also queried about needs for technology above and beyond the norm, such as zip drives, CD burners copiers and DSL connections. A report detailing the survey results is expected next month.