Duration and frequency of telecenter use : once a telecommuter, always a telecommuter?

摘要

The study of temporal patterns of telecommuting is essential in understanding the adoption of tele- commuting and, hence, the impacts of telecommuting on the demand for equipment and services as well as the demand for travel. This research examines, in the context of center-based telecommuting, how often individuals telecommute, the duration of their telecommuting participation, and causes of attrition among telecommuters. It also presents related findings from previous studies of home-based telecommuting. Attrition at the telecenters studied was relatively high, with 50/100 of all telecommuters quitting within the first 9 months. The average telecommuting frequency across the sample was 22/100 or about 1.1 days per week. Nearly 64/100 of the participants telecommuted less than l day per week on average. The relationship between frequency and duration appears to be complex, with partially counteracting trends. The results suggest that there is a stable segtnent of the sample (stayers) who are committed higher-frequency tele- commuters, but that within the segment having a propensity to quit, there is a slight but statistically sig- nificant tendency for higher-frequency telecommuters to quit sooner. The motivations of participants for quitting the program were investigated. The most frequent type of reason given was job-related (cited by more than a third of all quitters). Other important reasons were supervisor-related (16/100) and closure of the center (12/100). No one cited dissatisfaction with telecommuting as a reason for quitting, and most quitters expressed a desire to continue telecommuting from the center.