One of the joys of being a contractor is the freedom to work from the comfort of your own home, or local cafe, or other random location, without having to commute to an office. And that sense of freedom is something that Comms minister Stephen Conroy was trying to teach to businesses as he announced National Telework week for later this year.
Between November 12-16, Australia will be “celebrating” national Telework week, where companies are actively encouraged to let employees work from home using the wonders of high speed internet. Naturally, the move is to promote the teleworking benefits of the NBN, although it’s still unlikely that too many people working for big companies will be connected by November.
Here’s how Conroy sold the idea:
“An increase in telework can lead to benefits across the economy and community, from big business through to individual workers and families as well as the environment.
“These benefits include cost-savings and productivity gains, increased workforce flexibility, expanded supply of skilled labour, reduced impact on the environment, reduced stress from traffic congestion and increased time available to spend with family and the community.”
Of course, it won’t work for everybody – you won’t see any miners enjoying the benefits of working from home. But depending on your industry, telework is one way to ease traffic and public transport congestion while offering a better work/life balance and boosting productivity.
It will also lead to a massive increase in the number of Australians working without pants on. Trust me… I’m speaking from experience here…