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[Headlines] (HL-정치/사회/경제) Telework - The Pros and Cons
최고관리자  |  17-05-16 07:32

Technology has changed the way we live and especially the way we work. For many jobs, workers no longer need to be in a fixed office building. People can telework: they can work from home or anyplace where they can access the necessary technology. For example, I wrote this story on a backyard porch in the mountains of West Virginia. A 2015 survey from the company Gallup found that 37 percent of Americans worked from home. In 1995, that number was only 9 percent. It is easy to think that this freedom to work whenever or wherever is good for workers and for families. As it turns out, teleworking is both good and bad. A new report warns that some forms of teleworking may blur the line between our personal and professional lives. In other words, some teleworkers may have a hard time keeping their personal life separate from their professional life. This report claims that this “blurring” may have negative effects on the health and well-being of teleworkers. The report, titled, "Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work," is a combined effort by the International Labor Organization and the research institute, Eurofound. It looks at the pros and cons -- or the advantages and disadvantages -- of teleworking from home. The report looked at 15 countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan, the United States and 10 European nations.
* fixed = 고정된/ telework = 사무실에서 떨어진 장소나 자택에서 일을 하다/ access = (컴퓨터에) 접속하다; 접근하다; 이용하다/ backyard porch = 뒷마당 현관/ turn out = ~인 것으로 드러나다[밝혀지다]/ blur = 모호해지다; 모호하게 만들다/ in other words = 다시 말해서/ keep A separate from B = A를 B에서 분리하다[떼어 놓다]/ claim = (…이 사실이라고) 주장하다/ have negative effects on ~ = ~에 부정적인 영향을 주다/ combined effort = 협력  

Oscar Vargas is with Eurofound and Jon Messenger is from the International Labor Organization. The two co-wrote the report. They say the findings of the study are unclear and, in some cases, contradictory. For example, the researchers found that on the one hand, teleworkers "report reduced commuting time, more time for their families and a better balance between work and personal life; on the other hand, they also report an increase in working hours, a blurring of the boundaries between paid work and personal life and more work-life interference.” For some people, teleworking adds more family-work conflict, for others teleworking lowers family-work conflicts. For some people, teleworking lowered stress; for others it lead to higher levels of stress and other health problems such as sleep disorders. Vargas explains that some of the pros are less commuting time and greater freedom, or as he says, autonomy. One of the cons is working longer hours. “Among the positive effects, we find the reduction of commuting time, greater work autonomy leading to more flexibility, better overall work-life balance and higher productivity. There are also disadvantages. For example, these workers tend to work longer.” How teleworking affects the health and lifestyle of the workers seems to depend on how much and what type of teleworking they are doing.
* co-write = 공동 집필하다/ contradictory = 모순되는/ on the ond hand = 한편으로는/ commuting time = 출퇴근 시간/ on the other hand = 다른 한편으로는, 반면에/ work-life = 일과 생활[삶]/ interference = 간섭, 참견, 개입, 방해/ lead to ~ = ~로 이어지다/ sleep disorder = 수면장애/ autonomy = 자율성, 자주성; 자치권/ affect = 영향을 미치다