Businesses must change their views on employees working from home and start using the internet to connect employees through “telework,” Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said during Telework Forum in Sydney yesterday.
Following on from findings in the Deloitte Access Economics Report which revealed that the internet contributed $50 billion to the Australian economy, almost equal to that of the retail sector, Conroy encouraged Australians to embrace the power of the internet in business.
According to Conroy, Australia is below international standards when it comes to using the Internet for business.
“According to the ABS, just 6 percent of employers from Australia have reported having any kind of telework arrangement with their employer.”
Conroy compared this to other developed countries, revealing that “in the USA 10 percent of employees telework at least one day a month and eight European Union countries reported that more than 10 percent of workers involved in telework a quarter of the time or more and that was in 2005.”
Conroy claims the National Broadband Network would “potentially revolutionise” business. Listing the potential benefits, Conroy said connecting workers at home could improve the work/life balance for employees, reduce absenteeism, and tap into skilled workers from across Australia with greater ease.
“It promises to transform who is able to work, when you can work, where you can work and how you can work.”
