Importance of telework for employment and the labour market taking the Rhine-Main region as an example from the company viewpoint

Abstract

"Since the end of the 1980s telework has been a central subject of political and scientific debates about the structural change in the economy and society. The main focus of attention has so far been the work in the field of information and communication (I&C) technology which is performed outside the place of business and predominantly close to the place of residence. As a result of the increasing networking of information and communication technology and the move towards more flexibility in the organisation of work and business processes, telework has been discussed as a forward-looking employment form, whereby on the whole rather positive employment and labour market effects were expected. This paper takes up this subject taking the Rhine-Main region as an example. On the basis of the results of an establishment survey carried out in 1998 it is shown that the number of telework firms and telework jobs is falling behind the prognoses made so far. In this region at the time of the survey, about 4.6% of the establishments had set up telework jobs and the proportion of these jobs among all jobs was approximately 1.25%. The spread of telework is encouraged by the decentral restructuring of the organisation of work and firms, which is supported by I&C technology, although no in total positive employment effects can be determined that are causally related to the introduction of telework. It is more the case that telework is used as an element of functional flexibility, is predominantly established in the highly qualified segment of the labour market, and is implemented in the context of regular employment relationships. Regional labour markets are experiencing in parts a blurring of spatial borders through telework, though on the whole the social-spatial integration of work dominates, so that is has not so far seemed justified to assume a deterritorialisation or globalisation of the labour markets through this form of telework. As a result of the growing networking of information and communication technology and the decentralisation of work on the one hand and - contrary to expectations - the comparatively lower increase in the number of telework jobs on the other hand, it appears to be worthwhile to conceptualise telework not primarily from the difference between proximity to the place of residence and place of business. It is more important to take into account also those forms of work which are distributed throughout the location, decentral and supported by I&C technology within and between organisations and people, in order to be able to record the changes in the organisation of work as a result of the use of modern I&C technologies and their effects on regional employment and labour market structures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Krömmelbein, S. (2000): Bedeutung der Telearbeit für Beschäftigung und Arbeitsmarkt am Beispiel der Region Rhein-Main aus betrieblicher Sicht. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 33, No. 1, p. 136-153.