Teleworkers Still on the Job Over Holidays, ITAC Survey Finds
Results Correlate with ITAC 2003 Broadband Research

WAKEFIELD, Mass. - August 18, 2003 - Bolstering recent reports that Americans are working more and vacationing less, two-thirds of the respondents to an informal survey by ITAC, the association for advancing work from anywhere, said they teleworked during their July Fourth holidays. More than one half said they routinely work during vacations.

"Telework increases our choices," said Tim Kane, President of ITAC and President of Kinetic Workplace. "We can leave the office behind and go away for a family vacation, and still connect when we want to. The ability to work from anywhere is a vital contributor to balancing work and family needs."

Telework refers to work independent of location. Anyone who works at home, at a client's office, in a satellite office or a telework center, or on the road is teleworking.

Curious about the changing relationship between work and vacation, ITAC polled its members, who are active practitioners of working from anywhere, during July 2003. The survey questions covered the holiday just past and vacation practices in general, so that the findings would likely apply to the upcoming Labor Day weekend as well.

Though the sample is too small to be statistically significant, the survey results appear to correlate with the findings in Teleworking Comes of Age with Broadband, ITAC’s latest Telework America Report, funded by the AT&T Foundation. For example, the broadband report found that those with broadband access work more hours than those with dial-up access; this proved true for the July vacationers as well. Those with vacation broadband access reported working more time per day, on average, than vacation dialup users.

In keeping with the broadband report’s findings that broadband users collaborate more with co-workers, communicate more with colleagues and customers, and are more productive, the July survey found that those with home broadband access were more likely to work during vacation than those with home dialup, even if broadband was not available to them on vacation.

Additional tabulations from the July survey fill in the picture further:

• 80% of respondents were employed by a company with more than 50 employees
• 45% took additional vacation days around the July Fourth holiday
• 30% worked 2-3 hours per day
• 20% dedicated specific time each day for work related matters
• 24% found working during vacation more stressful; while 21% had the opposite experience, saying working during vacation was more relaxing

Finally, the July survey results show anecdotally that the ability to telework is an important component of business continuity: several respondents commented that they worked during vacation to reduce the pileups they would face when they returned - teleworking enabled them to rejoin the flow without post-vacation down time.

The complete July survey results are posted on the ITAC Web site, www.workingfromanywhere.org. Information about the Telework America broadband research report is also available on the Web site. ITAC members receive the report free of charge; non-members may purchase it for $495 per copy.

ITAC Tenth Anniversary Conference
ITAC's Annual Conference, September 4-5 in Baltimore, this year celebrates ITAC's tenth anniversary. The conference will analyze how telework has evolved this past decade from telecommuting to working from anywhere, and show how those experiences translate into practical benefits for the future. Other sessions will cover business and organizational continuity, HR trends, and virtual collaboration. For more information, visit http://www.workingfromanywhere.org/news/conference_0903.htm or call 781-876-6251.

About ITAC
On January 1, 2005, ITAC became the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork. Prior to this year, ITAC was the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC). As part of WorldatWork, ITAC continues its mission of advancing the growth and success of work independent of location through groundbreaking research such as this year’s Guide, an annual conference held every September and monthly e-mail communications on the latest developments in telework. Information on ITAC and its activities is available on the Web at www.workingfromanywhere.org or by telephone at 301-650-2322. ut working remotely, as well as updates on ITAC activities, are available on the Web site's home page.