* How California’s fiscal crisis is impacting state telework is unknowable
Poking around state and city governments lately got me curious about the state of California. Given its progressive roots (being the birthplace of telework, after all), fiscal crisis and charismatic governor, how is telework faring?
Hard to say. Telework pilots were first launched in the state’s 220 agencies back in the 1980s, when the state funded such things. Today, the programs are decentralized, so the personnel management and general services offices don’t track teleworkers. Over the years, the practice has simply melted in, like it has at companies such as IBM and Agilent.
There’s no money or centralized support for telework programs, but they continue to run on their own momentum. The state’s Web site has lots of info on telework, including policies and training materials. But nothing new (see link below).
David Fleming, the state’s long-time telework coordinator and champion, retired two years ago, then worked part time until funding dried up. Today, Robert Clifford, head of the policy development office, fields the occasional telework policy question, but in two months he’s retiring, too, and is dismantling his office.
“Unfortunately, nobody’s in command of that ship anymore. There’s no ongoing training,” says L.A.- based telework consultant Elham Shirazi. “That’s not to say people aren’t teleworking. The County of L.A. has a huge program with more than 5,000 teleworkers. Some older organizations that adopted it are still doing it, but it’s not new or novel, like in the state of Georgia. We do need to reinterest the state, reenergize the program.”
“If reenergizing the program involves spending more money, forget about it for a decade or so until finances are better,” says Jack Nilles, founder of the U.S. telework movement. “On the other hand, if the governor were to lay his charisma on the upper management of state departments, he might get them to move faster – for a month or two. In any case, there’s still much interest within state agencies, even at management levels, without reenergizing.”
Clifford’s not so sure. “Management is looking for more consistency across terms and conditions of the work,” he says. “As agencies downsize, programs like telework and alternative work options are put under increasing pressure. As offices contract, the tendency is to utilize existing office space, to increase direct communication and contact, which digs into one of the rationales of telework.”
