HP cuts back on telecommuting

by Bob Crabtree on 5 June 2006, 12:08

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In a story headed, HP cuts back on telecommuting, MercuryNews reports that HP has cancelled work-at-home arrangements for many staff employed in its IT division - a change that could force some to move house or find new jobs.

MercuryNews says that U-turn is the brainchild of the company's chief information officer Randy Mott,

'The architect of the HP division's change, Randy Mott, is regarded by Wall Street as a mastermind of operational efficiency based on his days as chief information officer at Wal-Mart Stores and Dell. Since joining HP as CIO in July, Mott's philosophy on building a strong IT workforce starkly contrasts with that of competitors, who encourage telecommuting to retain skilled workers who desire better work/life balance.

'Mott said by bringing IT employees together to work as teams in offices, the less-experienced employees who aren't performing well -- which there are "a lot of"' -- can learn how to work more effectively.

'In an office, "you're able to put teams together that can learn very aggressively and rapidly from each other," he said.'

What impact might this change by a pioneer in teleworking have elsewhere and have you found teleworking to be good or bad for company efficiency? Check out the MercuryNews report then let us know your thoughts in the HEXUS.community. 

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MercuryNews - HP cuts back on telecommuting
Forum thread about this article in the HEXUS.community

HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by Funkstar - Mon 05 Jun 2006 17:35
Shock! telecommuting isn't the holly grail many were making it seem. Next they'll be telling us the paperless office isn't practical*

(* I believe it isn't possible, not completely at least. Does work for some though, my dad for instance because of what he does and our CEO, probably because i don't think he does any work)

:)
Posted by 5lab - Mon 05 Jun 2006 17:56
i work-from-home and in the office - i agree with the reasoning behind the cutback - here its pretty flexible - you can work from home if you need to for a day, but doing it on a regular basis (ie 2 days a week every week) is discoraged
Posted by Funkstar - Mon 05 Jun 2006 18:01
don't get me wrong, it can work well, i do it on occation too. But a few years ago everyone was banging on about a telecommuting explosion because of broadband.
Posted by Bob Crabtree - Mon 05 Jun 2006 18:32
I think it's very difficult to come up with a single set of rules that can be applied across the board.

Different organisations have very different needs, and the needs within different areas of an organisation vary as much as between companies.

My own experience of working at home isn't typical but does make me aware of the downsides - the main one being (especially if you work more from home than a formal workplace) the tendency never to stop working.

When I was editing Computer Video mag, it was necessary for me to work at home for different reasons - some times to use kit (my own kit, note!) that wasn't available to me when I was in the office (well, I wasn't going to take it in for people on other mags to use).

Other times, it was simply because I needed to cut myself off from the trivia in the office to better concentrate on writing/editing.

But, there were always elements of the job that simply couldn't be done efficiently from home and when those needed to be carried out - as they did at predictable times in the month - I'd never have even considered attemping to do them anywhere else but in the office.

Right now, everyone at HEXUS, in effect, telecommutes, and we meet up only at events or for meetings where face-to-face is the only sensible way to get decisions taken (and some social stuff, too).

I think if you took a straw pole, then most of us would welcome at least some joint working time and, in terms of efficiency, I'm not sure that anyone involved with HEXUS could necessarily put up a believable argument that how we do things now is the most efficient way.

But what's the alternative when we have a lot of people with rare skills who are scattered up and down the country and don't want to relocate to a central office (or, more likely, an office near to or in London)?

So, is HP right to make the changes it's made?

I don't know and, therefore, think it daft for me to comment.

But what I did find disturbing in the MercuryNews report was the way that - or so it seemed - HP could just make a massive change in working practices without any consultation and with, it appears, some unpleasant side-effects for some of its employees, including moving home or may be even needing to find a different job.

Okay, that was a reading from across the pond, and things might be different if such changes were to be put in place in the UK or elsewhere in the EU, but I'm left uneasy even they do only apply in the USA.
Posted by Funkstar - Mon 05 Jun 2006 21:08
I forgot all you Hexus guys work from home :)

Bob Crabtree
But what I did find disturbing in the MercuryNews report was the way that - or so it seemed - HP could just make a massive change in working practices without any consultation and with, it appears, some unpleasant side-effects for some of its employees, including moving home or may be even needing to find a different job
Big companies don't consult their workforce in general though, do they? If they had been offshoring these jobs, it actually wouldn't be as big a deal, we are used to that in the IT sector now.