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Moving To The Tune Of eWork
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The number of individual eWorkers - people using new information and communication technologies to work from home or on the move - could reach over 27 million in Europe by 2010. This is the conclusion of the latest Emergence study, Modelling e-Work in Europe ? a report published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).
Peter Johnston, Head of the European Commission's New Working Methods Unit, which funded the research, says: "Mobility of labour and work is essential to the success of the Euro-zone, and to the European ambition to increase participation in work in the future knowledge economy. This research begins to show us the new opportunities, and the degree to which they are taken up across Europe."
eWork for individuals
The Modelling eWork in Europe study combines results from the Emergence 18-country employer study and data from European labour force surveys to develop a model of eWork. It concentrates on 'individual' forms of eWork, which take place away from traditional office premises.
Ways of teleworking
Four types of 'individual' eWorkers (or 'teleworkers') are identified in the study:
1. Telehomeworkers. Employees who use a computer and telecommunications link to conduct their work, and are based wholly or mainly in their homes. Their numbers are estimated to grow from a modest 810,000 in 2000 to just over three million by 2010, across the EU.
2. Multilocational eWorkers. A much more numerous group estimated at 3.7 million in the EU in 2000, including employees who alternate between a home and an office workstation, or who work nomadically from multiple locations. The IES forecast the numbers to grow to over 14 million by 2010.
3. eLancers. Self-employed workers who supply business services to clients using a computer and a telecommunications link. Estimated at 1.45 million in 2000, and likely to double over the decade across the EU.
4. The eEnabled self-employed. Self-employed people who work from their homes but who do not supply business services. This group stood at some 3.08 million in Europe in 2000 and is forecast to grow to 6.58 million in ten years.
According to the study, Multilocational eWorking by employees will form the largest part of this growth, and is generally regarded as the most desirable form of eWorking. For the employee it offers the security of a permanent contract, whilst reducing the risks of social isolation and poor career prospects associated with telehomeworking. For the employer, it offers flexibility, improved retention and both loyalty and efficiency gains.
Estimates of 'individual' eWorkers in Europe (EU 15), 2000 to 2010
2000
1. Telehomeworkers 810,000
2. Multilocational eWorkers 3,700,000
3. eLancers 1,450,000
4. eEnabled self employed workers 3,080,000
Total: 9,040,000
2010
1. Telehomeworkers 3,170,000
2. Multilocational eWorkers 14,332,000
3. eLancers 3,040,000
4. eEnabled self employed workers 6,580,000
Estimated Total: 27,122,000
Source: Emergence analysis, 2001
The study concludes that the willingness of employers and workers to embrace technological and organisational change will be a decisive factor in shaping future working patterns in the EU.
Jobs on the move: 40% of EU employers eOutsource
A second report, Jobs on the Move: European Case Studies in Relocating eWork, focuses on types of eWork which, instead of involving individual workers using ICTs to work away from a traditional office setting, involve the relocation of entire functions from one region or country to another.
The results of the Emergence employer survey reveal that over four out of ten European employers are already using remote suppliers or back offices to supply some of their business services over a telecommunications link. eWork thus plays a more important part in the European economy than the better-publicised individual forms. This study describes 62 in-depth case studies carried out by the Emergence team to investigate the dynamics of eWork relocation.
Each case study is based on interviews carried out in two locations: the 'source' from which the work originated, and the remote 'destination' where it was carried out. The 'sources' were spread throughout the 15 EU member states plus Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. However, some of the 'destinations' were outside Europe, including India, Russia, the Ukraine, Singapore, North Africa, Madagascar and North America.
Jobs May Come, Jobs May Go
The Emergence work suggests that popular thinking about transnational eOutsourcing and remote eWork location is highly over-simplified, if not caricatured. The concept of a job 'lost' at one location being simply 'gained' at another is rarely the case. Moving jobs beyond the organisation may be due to restructuring and involve downsizing, but equally it may be part of an expansionary process. It is also possible to observe both centralising tendencies ?such as the creation of a single Pan-European call centre to replace a number of national ones - and decentralising trends.
Critical Success Factors
Successful relocation requires both technology (such as suitable infrastructure), and human and organisational co-ordination. A surprising amount of human mobility and face-to-face communication is involved in making remote working relationships successful if work of any complexity is involved.
Communication
To make eWork relocation succeed - and have business processes and procedures that are as clear, standardised, and transparent as possible - it is important to have direct human contact between the people involved. Spend time establishing clear communications channels and develop a mutual understanding, including the cultural differences.
In the words of Emergence project director, Ursula Huws: "Clear and open communication between human beings who understand and trust each other is still essential to a successful remote working relationship. There?s no electronic substitute for the occasional exchange of pheromones." In the next stage of its work, Emergence will be carrying out a further 50 case studies in Asia.
The Emergence project is funded by the European Commission?s Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme.
Jobs on the Move: European Case Studies in Relocating eWork, by J Flecker and S Kirschenhofer. IES Report 386, 2002. (ISBN 1 85184 315 9) and
Modelling eWork in Europe: Estimates, models and forecasts from the Emergence project, by P Bates and U Huws. IES Report 388, 2002. (ISBN 1 85184 317 5) are available from IES now.
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