The Factory model is being dismantled by none other than the US Government! Here is Kate Lister's review of the new legislation and its impact.
Again - I think of the impact of such an approach on PEI - such a move would reverse the drain from the rural areas and put money back into the pockets of the people and the government.
The Telework Improvements Act (H.R. 1722) passed today (July 14 2010) by a vote of 290-131. A similar bill (S.707) passed unanimously in the Senate May 24th.
Research by the Telework Research Network shows the bill would in fact save agency and employee participants almost $11 billion a year.
"The staggering costs of lost productivity from federal workers during last Winter's snowstorms--estimated by the government at $71 million a day--would pay for the five year cost of the bill in one day," says Kate Lister, Principal Research at the Telework Research Network.
Based on assumptions from a 2006 study commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration (conducted by Booz Allen), and others, the Telework Research Network's Telework Savings Calculator (http://tinyurl.com/32bzqau) shows that if those eligible employees who wanted to work from home did so just one day every other week (the level required in H.R. 1722):
Agencies would:
- Increase productivity by over $2.3 billion each year - equivalent to 26,000 man years of work
- Save $850 million in annual real estate, electricity, and related costs
- Save $2.3 billion in annual absenteeism
- Save $3.1 billion in annual employee turnover
- Improve continuity of operations
- Improve work life balance and better address the needs of families, parents, and senior caregivers.
- Avoid the ‘brain drain’ effect of retiring boomers by allowing them to work flexibly
- Be able to recruit and retain the best people
- Offer fuller employment for disabled workers, rural residents, and military families
Federal Employees would:
- Achieve a better work-life balance
- Save $400-$1,400/year in transportation and work-related expenses
- Collectively save $57 million a year at the pumps
- Suffer fewer illnesses
The Nation would:
- Save almost 3 million barrels and $233 million in imported oil
- Reduce greenhouse gases by 532,000 tons/year—the equivlient of taking 97,000 cars off the road
- Reduce road travel by 1.2 billion miles/year saving $20 million in road maintenance
- Reduce road congestion thereby increasing productivity for non-teleworkers as well
- Save 1,000 people from traffic-related injury or death each year and save $117 million a year in related costs
- Improve emergency responsiveness
- Reduce pollution from road work and new office construction
- Preserve open spaces
- Alleviate the strain on our crumbling transportation infrastructure
- Reduce terrorism targets of opportunity
The savings per telecommuter would total about $5,200/participant per year.
The TeleworkResearchNetwork (http://
