Virtual offices: some neglected considerations

A part of organizational restructuring and corporate downsizing, numerous companies are utilizing what have come to be called “virtual offices” in an effort to increase effectiveness and overall efficiency. For the most part, these offices are staffed by employees who frequently telecommute, use Internet communications and information resources, and share office space and equipment for brief periods of time when working at corporate facilities outside the home. Vanishing are the traditional offices and organizations that occupy a common and fixed space, and which employ a relatively permanent workforce. Numerous benefits and advantages attend the use of virtual offices in today’s climate of global competition. Telecommuting has been shown to result in productivity gains of between 15–20%, while saving companies sizeable sums of money in office-space rentals. In addition, workers who previously found it difficult to work outside the home (e.g., the elderly, handicapped, or parents with childcare responsibilities), now use telecommuting as a vehicle to participate in the workforce. Corporate executives and managers accessing the Internet utilize its rich resources, of both people and information, to improve operations and to market products. And finally, the sharing of equipment and space that occurs in virtual offices affords companies dramatic savings in the costs of facilities and the rental of space and equipment required to house those facilities. While only in use for a relatively short time, virtual offices offer companies a flexibility in size, composition of workforce, and location, not otherwise available with more traditional offices. This flexibility has resulted, in some cases, in dramatic productivity gains, reduced overhead costs, and increases in overall organizational efficiency. But are such gains likely to continue at the present pace? And what steps can be taken to maximize the likelihood of such gains continuing? Are there disaffections for both employer and employee associated with the use of virtual offices? My comments in addressing such questions are informed by data I have collected over the last 10 years on internal labor markets, both in the U.S. and abroad, as well as other data gathered on Virtual Offices: Some Neglected