Hang-Ups

The Downside to Telecommuting: Enabling people to work remotely often helps companies offer better work/life balance, which experts say contributes to improved retention of top performers and is a boon to recruiting new talent. But what effect does this have on co-workers whose jobs still require them to trudge to the office every day? A new study by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute suggests they may become dissatisfied with their jobs and eventually seek other employment—potentially cancelling out any retention-related benefits of telecommuting. Timothy Golden, an RPI professor who researched the topic by studying a sample of 240 professionals at an undisclosed medium-size company, cautions that there may be several factors at work. People who aren’t able to telecommute may find the workplace less enjoyable, have weaker ties to co-workers and feel less of an obligation to their organizations. They may also perceive that their workload is increasing to make up for that of telecommuters.