Supervisors terminate telework agreements far more often than employees do, and the most common reason given is that the nature of the work is not well suited to telecommuting, OPM has said in its telework status report.
According to the report, based on the results of the 2010 employee viewpoint survey and OPM’s 2010 telework data call, the number of employees teleworking 1 or 2 days a week increased from 52,339 to 57,950 in 2009.
It said that telework requests are also most often denied because of the type of work.
As in years past, agencies report office coverage as the main barrier to telework success, followed by organizational culture and managerial resistance.
Many agencies reported that the mission and nature of the work they do are the main barrier to telework implementation, with others reporting the need for better program marketing and training within agencies and the variation of enthusiasm for telework across supervisors.
Of the 247,268 employees responding to the employee viewpoint survey, 12 percent – 41,387 – reported they simply choose not to telework.
The report also said 30 percent of respondents who don’t telework – and 57 percent of non-teleworking managers and supervisors – would consider teleworking if barriers such as technical issues were removed.
