CONFERENCE

In order to find a solution for the mobility problem of employees and to provide increased job satisfaction – and subsequently a higher quality of life – more and more companies/organisations are searching for alternatives to the traditional work situation.

Mobility of employees is mainly a problem for companies/institutions situated in and around the big cities. The combination of work and family therefore becomes more difficult all the time. The choice for the family often results in declining suitable job offers. Here the gender perspective manifests itself very clearly, since mainly women have to give up certain jobs due to their commitments to their families.

The most logical solution, working in one’s own region, drastically restricts the supply of jobs, since most companies/institutions are seated within specific geographic zones.

Working from home, nowadays nearly the only form of telework, does offer a solution to the mobility problem, by eliminating the necessity of travelling, but experience shows that it also has its disadvantages. For example: the costs of infrastructure (desk, telecom, etc.), social isolation, lack of a professional work climate and the problematic separation between work and home environment. Therefore alternative forms of telework are also pursued in the European project ‘Allinclusive@work’, of which Unizo is the promoter and ESF-Agency Flanders the coordinator. Within the context of this project, the University of Antwerp has conducted a survey to examine attitudes towards and familiarity with the phenomenon of telework. The e-survey was put online in various European countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and Belgium) and the results have been studied and recorded, as well as the specific telework situation in each individual country.

On 17 & 18 February 2005 the project was rounded off with a seminar entitled ‘Telework in Europe: lowering thresholds for equal opportunities’ in Oud Sint-Jan, Bruges.

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