Edward Elgar Publishing Telework in the 21st Century: An Evolutionary Perspective (The ILO Future of Work series)

Product Description New information and communications technologies have revolutionized daily life and work in the 21st century. This insightful book demonstrates how telework has evolved in the last four decades, as technological developments have improved our capacity to work remotely. Based on a new conceptual framework, this book explores the global variations in telework, examining the effects on working conditions and individual and organizational performance. Breaking the traditional intellectual conception that telework is performed only in the home, this book surveys the full breadth of working environments, as technology allows employees increased working mobility. Contributors expose a profound ambiguity surrounding the effects of 21st-century telework, revealing that its advantages and disadvantages may simply be two sides of the same coin. This timely book is crucial reading for researchers of labour and employment interested in the evolution of contemporary telework and the influence of modern technologies in the workplace. Policy-makers will also benefit from this book’s concrete policy recommendations to improve the practice of telework. Review ‘This volume explores the development, forms, and effects of telework in countries from different regions around the world, including Argentina, Brazil, ten Member States of the European Union (EU), India, Japan, and the United States. A must read for everyone who wants to understand the different “generations” of telework and its impact on working life, health and safety and productivity.’ -- Gerhard Bosch, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany ‘A valuable, long-term and comparative perspective on the continuously developing interface between work and the gradual advance in telecommunications technology that facilitates it to be done anytime, anywhere – in-home, off-site or around the globe. This carefully curated compilation will be useful to researchers, policy-makers, organizations, and anyone trying to keep up the pace of their own knowledge of the various effects of this transformation on well-being and organizations – good, evil or a bit of both – for workers, employers and countries.’ -- Lonnie Golden, Penn State University, US About the Author Edited by Jon C. Messenger, Senior Research Officer, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland