Companies says offering telework can open up access to quality workers who would not have been able to take the job otherwise. Image: Teacher Photo/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffPrivate sector companies value telework for its positive impact on recruitment and retention, the GAO has said in a report that lands just after the Trump administration’s return-to-office policy has severely cut back that option in federal agencies.
GAO said that like the government, the private sector greatly increased use of telework due to the pandemic—nearly tripling to about 18 percent of all workers in 2021—and that since then many have issued similar return-to-office mandates.
In interviews with employers in industries with the highest rates of telework, organizations that represent private sector workers and researchers, GAO found that private companies use standards similar to those used by federal agencies in deciding who is eligible for telework, including whether the job involves in-person customer interaction, are more suitable for telework.
However, they also specifically consider the effects on recruitment and retention, a factor that was implicit, but not explicit, in many federal agency practices. The companies “most often said the greatest benefit of telework is the ability to attract and retain staff. Worker stakeholder organizations also said telework benefits recruitment and retention,” GAO said.
Offering telework “can provide employers access to quality workers who would not have been able to take the job otherwise,” GAO was told, and seven of the eight experts interviewed said telework helps those with barriers to work—such as workers with disabilities—remain in the workforce, it added.
It cited a study of a technology company’s workers finding that teleworking two days a week “reduced quit rates by one-third. Another study estimated the rise in work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic increased full-time employment of workers with disabilities by 12 percent on average, and by as much as 40 percent in computer occupations,” it said.
Both worker and employer stakeholder organizations said that telework “can improve worker productivity” for reasons including that it “limits interruptions from colleagues,” GAO said. It cited a previous report finding that telework generally had a positive impact on worker productivity in certain sectors, but there are uncertainties about its long-term impacts—for example because junior staff might not receive the same level of training and other career development opportunities.
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