Telecommuters are less likely to be promoted than peers who head into the office every day, according to a survey of 1,300 global executives released mid-January by Los Angeles-based executive search firm Korn/Ferry International.

That's even though most of the executives consider telecommuters to be at least as productive as their desk-bound colleagues, according to the survey.

And three quarters of those bosses also said they'd like a job where they could regularly telecommute.

The survey results come as many companies are allowing more employees to telecommute, work flexible hours and even share jobs in order to attract and retain talented employees, often women with young children.

The paradoxical findings speak to a 'general fear' that workers who have the boss's ear in the office will be promoted ahead of an off-site colleague who is doing better work, said Michael Distefano, vice-president of global marketing for Korn/Ferry.

"It's silly when you think about that."

Executives may also be concerned about promoting a hard-core telecommuter to a management position where face time with employees is essential, he said.

Although the survey did not define 'telecommuting', arrangements for off-site work vary widely across companies and often within companies from job to job. Some employees work entirely off-site or from the road, while others may log on from home on an ad hoc basis.

Off-site work

Estimates of the number of telecommuters vary, but their ranks seem to have risen steadily in recent years. In 2003, some 7.4 million Americans worked from home during business hours at least one day per month, according to the Telework Coalition, a Washington-based advocacy group. The Census Bureau counted 4.2 million telecommuters in 2000.

Although some jobs - retail sales, for example - don't lend themselves to telecommuting, the ranks of off-site workers now include a variety of white collar and professional workers. Those include virtual call centre representatives, financial managers, accountants and insurance agents.

Employees are quick to cite the advantages of their home office routine, including no time lost to commuting, the ability to work in pajamas and bedroom slippers, and quieter surroundings.

Human resource managers say that telecommuting and other work-life programmes cut turnover and improve productivity.

"Water-cooler time costs money," said Mark Mehler, co-founder of CareerXroads, a New Jersey recruiting and consulting firm.

"If you can do one, two days a week from your home office, you're a lot more productive."

The executives surveyed recognise those advantages; 78 per cent reported their telecommuting workers were more productive, or as productive, as office-bound colleagues.

Pitfalls for workers

Yet, 61 per cent dinged telecommuters as being poorer bets for advancement.

"That's a very surprising result," said Jennifer Allyn, a human resource manager for the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which allows many employees to telecommute.

"From our perspective, that face time, being present in the office, has nothing to do with what it takes to advance."

But she and other executives recognise the pitfalls for workers, offering materials to help telecommuters and employees who travel frequently to maintain strong office relationships.

"If you're not cultivating the right network of people, you won't move up in any setting, whether you're telecommuting or not," Allyn said.

Despite their hesitations, 93 per cent of the executives said they would consider taking a job where they regularly telecommuted, a finding that Korn/Ferry's Distafano doesn't find surprising.

"Even though it's detrimental," he said, "I would still want to do it because it beats sitting on the (freeway) every day."

LA Times-Washington Post