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Telework Centres

August 2000

Much of this book has been written on trains between London and Ipswich, using a Psion Series 5 palmtop computer. With a cell-phone adapter, the same computer can be connected to the internet and to any other networked computer in the world. It really is possible to work from almost anywhere. This has led to predictions that many people will work from home. Estimated of 20-25% of the population are commonplace. However, it is common for teleworkers to work a few days each week in a conventional office. People want to have the social contact that work offers, and want to stay in regular contact with their co-workers. But one problem that rarely gets a mention is that many people who telework don’t really have enough space at home. Not everyone lives in a large house with a comfortable office. People may squash a computer and desk into a corner of a living room. It is not unheard of to even use the bathroom. As work increasingly become suitable for teleworking, many more people will want to telework and their firms may encourage it. So what do we do?

One solution we expect to see is the conversion of redundant buildings into local telework centres. Buildings frequently become vacant and change hands. Sometimes, these are ideally situated and proportioned to act as a centre where local people can go to work alongside their neighbours, but for different companies. The building would be equipped with adequate networking and facilities, and could have a mixture of hot desks for infrequent occupants, and some permanently allocated desks for regular users. Some may be permanently leased by single companies with a significant local presence. Obviously space could be open plan or office based. Sharing of space and equipment could make such centres cost effective, especially if some of the users are shift or night workers. Using state of the art cordless LANs and cordless phones, equipment and desks could be moved around frequently without the usual problems of rearranging spaghetti wiring.

In this way, space problems at home are avoided, and people still get social contact at work so won’t feel so isolated. But there are other more hidden benefits. Firstly, people will have much more contact with more of their neighbours. We think this will have a positive effect on local communities. Secondly, there is more scope for cross fertilisation and education, making a better-educated and more versatile workforce. Thirdly, people would be able to change employers without having to move geographically. This would gradually make it is easier to set up and run virtual companies, where companies can form teams of dispersed people with just the right skills for a particular project, who go their separate ways when the project terminates.

Another community benefit may result of the centres can also be used out of office hours for other activities, such as night school. Large screens that allow life size videoconferencing, photocopying and printing equipment, meeting rooms, and of course computer terminals, could be just as useful for community activities as for work. With immersive virtual reality chambers too, the centres would be very attractive entertainment centres, perhaps greatly enhancing quality of life in rural areas. These centres may also be ideal locations for bureau services, or just for companies to hire by the day for courses or away days – hotels have provided basic rooms for such activities for many years, but just don’t seem to realise the need for well provisioned IT equipment.

These telework centres may also make ideal drop-off places for increasingly frequent teleshopping deliveries. All in all, we can expect that these centres will become very commonplace over the coming years, an ideal investment for budding property speculators.