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The findings are contained in a study by the EU-backed Institute for Employment Studies, entitled "Modelling eWork in Europe." The study is based on research carried out in 18 European countries.
According to the report, the total number of e-workers, which includes teleworkers, e-lancers, multi-locational workers and connected self-employed home workers, is expected to increase from 9 million to 27 million between 2000 and 2010.
The first group, teleworkers, which are defined as workers who use a computer and phone to connect to their employer's office, will grow from 810,000 in 2000 to over 3 million by 2010. The ranks of e-lancers, which are self-employed workers who supply business services to clients using a computer and a telecommunications link, are estimated to grow from 1.45 million in 2000, to 2.9 million by 2010, the Institute said.
Still more growth will come from a group the Institute for Employment Studies calls the e-enabled self-employed -- a group that consists of self-employed people that work from their homes but do not supply business services. This group will grow from 3.1 million to 6.6 million over the 10-year period, the report said. Meanwhile, the number of multi-locational workers, which includes employees who alternate between a home and an office workstation, as well as those who work nomadically from multiple locations, are forecast to grow from 3.8 million to over 14 million by 2010.
Multilocational e-working forms the largest part of the e-worker growth, the Institute said, because it is regarded as the most desirable form of e-working. For the employee it offers the security of a permanent contract, whilst reducing the risks of social isolation and poor career prospects associated with teleworking. For the employer, it offers flexibility, improved retention and loyalty, and efficiency gains.
Teleworking Ireland, who contributed to the reports, point out some of the problems inherent in e-working here. "One of the problems with teleworking in Ireland is the absence of work channels," said Liam Breslin, a director of Telework Ireland. "There are people available to work and there is work available, but there is no recognised way of matching up."
Breslin stated that although the current telecoms infrastructure was not an obstacle to e-working, it was far from the desirable level. "People are able to work at a certain level with the existing telecom infrastructure, but the lack of a cheap, always-on service is a problem."
The Institute for Employment Studies also released a second report, entitled "Jobs on the Move: European Case Studies in Relocating E-Work," which focused on types of e-work which involves the relocation of entire functions from one region or country to another. The survey reveal that over four out of ten European employers are already using remote suppliers or back offices to supply some of their business services over a telecommunications link.
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