Greening Effect of Telework Called Unknown

The greening effect of telework is one of the main justifications for teleworking, but the government currently doesn’t collect data showing how much of an impact is occurring, according to the OPM report. The report noted that the energy-saving aspect is a main reason that OPM, GSA and others are pushing to allow federal employees to work from their homes or from closeby alternative work sites at least part of the time–along with emergency planning, savings on office space and general recruitment and retention advantages. However, OPM said that "few agencies are actually measuring outcomes for their telework programs. Most agencies do not collect information on the benefits realized from their telework programs." The measurements that are being made tend to focus on morale, recruitment and retention and productivity, it said. On reason is that most agencies have not set goals for their programs—GSA itself being an exception, with a goal of half of its eligible employees teleworking by 2010—and without goals, "assessment is difficult."