ways2work - Parents and carers
Working from home
Jane Shelton, Managing Director of the Melbourne independent think tank Marshall Place Associates, is researching home based business and people working remotely. She is the author of the book No Workplace Like Home.
Dr Shelton estimates that around 2.6 million Australians are employed externally, working for others, or running their own business from home. ‘And that’s a conservative estimate – others say over 4 million.’
Companies such as IBM enable people, from the chief executive down, to work from home because they recognise the value of flexible work arrangements and supporting people to work remotely. ‘It depends on the nature of the business but the really large corporations are more likely to let people work from home.’ Dr Shelton says the main areas of growth for home-based work are community services and financial and business outsourcing services.
New technology allows for greater flexibility
‘A lot of people have access to broadband internet and wireless now which means that rather than having a stationary desk they can be quite nomadic. With wireless broadband you can be working from your car or at a client’s premises and always be connected via email. People working for someone else often use Remote Network Access (RNA) – where what you have on your computer at your workplace is mirrored on your desktop at home with similar access.’
Computer security, for example access to databases and confidential information, has often been an impediment, but, Dr Shelton says, advances in technology, such as keytags which allow a user to log in using a personal identifier, have tightened security and made remote access more viable for workers and businesses.
Conference calls and new learning technology including video conferencing mean that people working together can meet even if they are not in the same city.
And for people setting up a business from home, the internet means easier and faster contact with buyers and access to global markets. Dr Shelton cites the owner of a business that sells jazz CDs to local, US and European markets where orders placed overnight can be dispatched the next day. ‘People have been much more innovative in keeping in touch with overseas and regional customers. Developments in business systems such as online ordering and processing and online payment have also opened up opportunities.
‘If the last time you worked was several years ago, how people manage their business is quite remarkably different. Seven years ago you had the introduction of the GST so the whole issue of how you manage the reporting requirements of business has changed,' she says. ‘Much of this can be done online – dealing with the Australian Tax Office for example. Banking,too. Instead of going to pay something at the Post Office or the bank, once you have got set up that whole aspect of day-to-day business can be done online.’
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