Pondering the Fault Lines of Anywhere Working (Telework, Telecommuting)

Anywhere working (other terms include telework, telecommuting amongst others) has been of interest to researchers, policy makers and practitioners for over forty years. The predicted uptake of anywhere working as a flexible working option has not eventuated. This monograph reviews the key areas of research on anywhere working. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the research themes in the literature to inform government, researchers, organisations, their employees and other stakeholders on how anywhere working can be implemented in a sustainable way that will provide quantifiable organisational, societal and individual (employee) benefits. This review ponders the fault lines (that is, the tensions and contentions) of anywhere working. On the one hand, the proponents of anywhere working argue that the technological advances inevitably lead to this way of working becoming business as usual. On the other hand, detractors of anywhere working point to the limitations, for example social and professional isolation, as barriers to full-scale adoption. The article concludes by proposing a long term research agenda to develop a sustainable framework for anywhere working.