Telecommuting and productivity of IT professionals in IT companies in Sri Lanka

Abstract

lest current work arrangements still bear the imprint of the industrial revolution, Imployees mainly transact their time, rather than their products, with employing rms. The era of Information Technology compelled firms to unbind the time and the ask from the place. Telecommuting is the method of unbinding the time and the task or the place. It allows the work to be carried out anywhere at any time allowing mployees to be more flexible. Recent advances in mobile broadband have made working f r om anywhere at any time more realistic than ever before. ele commuting is not a new concept. It has its roots in late 70's. There have been a number of studies conducted in this area, in the international arena and some over ments even promote telecommuting as a solution to reduce the road traffic and Envernmental pollution. Telecommuting is not limited to providing one or more solution to social matters, but it provides benefits for both individuals as well as organizations Increased productivity is one of the many benefits it provides to organizations. It been reported that telecommuting increases individual productivity in other countries but there are not many studies conducted in the Sri ankan context. This research focuses on whether telecommuting really increases the dividual productivity. information technology professionals who are employed in IT organizations are elected as the focus group in this research. This sector will be the most at ease with formation technology and have a better chance of telecommuting due to the nature :f their job. The research has used hypotheses and collected data from IT "rofessiorals via the web published questionnaire. The research used the valid esponses received from IT professionals in its analysis. the study result indicates a clear increase in productivity of IT professionals when hey ele commute. There is about on average 20vi increase in overall productivity due o telecommuting according to the research findings. Most of the productivity envernmental is due to the increase in output due to either IT professionals spending Tore time on their work, or because their efficiency has increased due to ele commuting.