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Human Resources: Drawbacks Of Telecommuting

Drawbacks of TelecommutingHere area a number of drawbacks involved in telecommuting from an office at home:

• Distractions at home (fridge, television, family, pets) can reduce productivity.
  
• Workflow may be disrupted by the need to care for small children and the infirm.
  
• in-office workers may resent home telecommuters
  
• Telecommuters need to be more technologically proficient with their equipment, since they'll have reduced access to a dedicated employee at the company whose job is to maintain that equipment.[citation needed]
  
• Telecommuter must sacrifice a room in the house to be converted into an office
  
• There is an increased risk of confidential data loss and/or data integrity resulting Data can also be lost by physical theft of computer equipment form the telecommuter's home.
  
• There is a loss of direct corporate control over the telecommuter's physical work environment.
  
• There may be an initial short-term drop in a telecommuter's productivity, as they adapt to the changed work environment, or sometimes an inadequate office setup
  
• Management needs to recognize the communication barriers that telecommuters experience which can lead to a feeling of alienation
  
• Decreases in overheads are offset by increased technology costs, including setup of security ad virtual private networks
  
• Telecommuters their sense of a social community with co-workers, and may lose the ability to develop close connections with colleagues, as well a sense of shared corporate experience.
  
• There may be corporate liability and workers' compensation issues from working at home
  
• Corporate leadership styles, and productivity measurement tools, may need to change to adapt to a telecommuting workplace.