54 KBShare of Teleworkers Will Rise to 11 Percent of the Labour Force by 2005
4 Percent Telecommuters – 16 Million Teleworkers in the EU
Bonn/Madrid, October 24, 2000 – According to new projections by German research firm empirica, Bonn, the number of teleworkers as a share of the total labour force in the European Union will reach 11 percent by 2005. These results, which indicate that numbers will rise almost twofold in the period 1999 to 2005, were presented at this year’s eBusiness & eWork Conference in Madrid (18-20 October). However, only a minority of all teleworkers – 4 percent of the labour force – will be using telework as a means to reduce commuting trips (“telecommuting”). Other types of dislocated work like mobile telework and telework by self-employed who operate from SOHOs (Small Office, Home Office) are also of prime importance.
The projection is based on a model that uses selected data from the 1999 ECaTT surveys. These surveys were conducted by empirica in 10 European Member States that account for more than 90 percent of the EU population. Through them, data was collected not only on the way individuals work, but also on practice of telework in establishments and their plans concerning the introduction and extension of teleworking in the near future.
Inspite of a general upward trend in the share of teleworkers in Europe’s labour force (roughly 16 million EU residents will be teleworking by 2005), there are marked differences in the speed of diffusion between individual countries. The Nordic countries together with the Netherlands are forerunners, with above-average diffusion rates for home-based as well as overall telework. In Finland, nearly one third of the labour force will be teleworking by 2005 compared to only 12 percent in the United Kingdom and 13 percent in Germany. Southern Europe including France and Ireland are lagging behind.
|
|
Home-based
Teleworkers |
All Teleworkers in % |
||||
|
|
1994 |
1999 |
2005 |
1994 |
1999 |
2005 |
|
Denmark |
- |
4.5 |
10.2 |
- |
10.5 |
19.4 |
|
Finland |
- |
6.7 |
16.7 |
- |
16.8 |
29.4 |
|
France |
0.8 |
1.2 |
2.4 |
1.8 |
2.9 |
4.8 |
|
Germany |
0.4 |
1.5 |
4.0 |
1.4 |
6.0 |
12.6 |
|
Ireland |
- |
1.0 |
2.1 |
- |
4.4 |
7.7 |
|
Italy |
0.5 |
1.6 |
4.2 |
1.0 |
3.6 |
7.1 |
|
Netherlands |
- |
4.0 |
9.7 |
- |
14.5 |
25.2 |
|
Spain |
0.8 |
1.3 |
2.7 |
1.7 |
2.8 |
5.4 |
|
Sweden |
- |
5.3 |
11.2 |
- |
15.2 |
24.3 |
|
U.K. |
1.7 |
2.4 |
4.3 |
5.4 |
7.6 |
11.7 |
|
EU10 |
- |
2.0 |
4.2 |
- |
6.1 |
10.8 |
The complete research paper can be downloaded here: 54 KB