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Want to green your job? Stay home
Posted by Elsa Wenzel

Maybe I shouldn't come to the office anymore. Working from home would treat the planet better, according to the American Electronics Association.

The trade group issued an Earth Day report Tuesday encouraging employers to expand telecommuting, partly to help cut carbon emissions and use of electricity. Among its arguments:

If everyone who could perform a job remotely did so just 1.6 days per week, $4.5 billion worth of fuel would be spared. That would prevent the release of 26 billion pounds of carbon dioxide each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nearly half of workers commute more than 20 miles total every weekday, according to a 2006 study by the University of Maryland.

Some 45 million people work remotely, according to the Telework Coalition. Employees of IBM, for one, take novel approaches, such as using Second Life to interact.

Various studies show that telecommuting helps to lure attractive employees, prevents them from burning out, and saves companies money. The American Electronics Association promotes telework for potentially bringing parents, retirees, and others with scheduling constraints back into the workforce as baby boomers retire.

That's all good news for providers of Web-based software and broadband services seeking yet another marketing angle.

Online collaborative software, for instance, can reduce a company's paper waste and reduce IT management expenses. The makers of Cisco's WebEx, Google's apps, and others push telecommuting as a "green" practice.

However, telework has downsides. It may help families better balance their personal and professional lives, but it can also can lead to working around the clock, thanks to always-on gadgets. Americans have paltry vacation time as it is, compared with Europeans.

And although workers can deduct many expenses of a home office, utility bills for maintaining one can be expensive.

Plus, companies need to ramp up security measures when allowing a worker to toil on a virtual private network, or cart around a laptop loaded with sensitive data.

Congressional bills have been introduced that would force federal agencies to set up telework programs. Part of the reasoning has been to keep people working despite emergencies.

400 Chrysler tech jobs go

Metro positions will be lost when computer technology tasks are outsourced to companies in India, Virginia.

Eric Morath / The Detroit News

At least 400 people will lose their jobs at Chrysler LLC as the automaker outsources computer technology work -- part of an effort to streamline its information technology department and a long-range plan to cut costs.

The transition will start immediately, though some workers may not depart until the third quarter.

Chrysler has finalized contracts with India-based Tata Consultancy Services and Virginia-based Computer Sciences Corp. to take over maintenance and support operations from internal employees, Jan Bertsch, Chrysler vice president and chief information officer, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Eliminating those jobs will allow Chrysler to invest more in advanced technology and expand its overseas reach because costs for routine operations will be greatly reduced, she said. The service contracts are valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but Chrysler would not divulge details.

Outsourcing the work will shrink Chrysler's 2,100-person information technology department, mostly in Auburn Hills. About 200 of Chrysler's 1,000 salaried technology workers will lose their jobs. The balance of the layoffs will come from the ranks of 1,100 contract workers in that department. They will leave in greater numbers, but Bertsch didn't offer specifics.

Some employees may be hired by Tata or Computer Sciences, she said, and some work will be moved entirely off-site.

The outsourcing and job losses are part of Chrysler's three-year Recovery and Transformation Plan first announced in February 2007. That plan, which was updated in November, calls for the elimination of 3,000 salaried positions and 25,000 jobs overall.

Bertsch said the plan also requires the more efficient operation of all company departments, including information technology.

Previously, the majority of technology budgets have been committed to routine tasks, leaving little money to invest in advanced technology, Bertsch said

"We are an auto manufacturer, we don't have the same scale and expertise that (technology firms) do," she said.

Tata Consultancy Services, a division of the Tata Group, which recently acquired Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover, and Computer Sciences will service hardware and manage applications for functions like product development and sales and marketing. Chrysler continues to run business analysis, customer-service operations and other key areas.

With clients worldwide, Tata and Computer Sciences are in a better position to support Chrysler's growing overseas operations, Bertsch said. "The companies have global delivery capacity and can easily invest more in new technology," she said.

Top executives have said growing Chrysler sales, manufacturing and engineering presence in developing countries is essential to returning the company to profitability.

Sending "non-core" work to a lower-cost supplier makes a lot of sense for a company fighting to return to profitability, said Van Conway, senior managing director at Birmingham-based turnaround firm Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy.

"Profitable companies tend to take things in house, and as times get lean you see more outsourcing," he said. "It's smart, if you don't lose quality and can do it economically."

The loss of the jobs at Chrysler is an example of why, when the auto industry contracts, so does Michigan's high-tech employment base, said Scott Watkins, of the Anderson Economic Group.

"This is Chrysler catching up with the times -- most companies outsource work that's not primary to their corporate mission," he said. "This means fewer jobs for the Metro Detroit economy, but it does open up opportunities for new or existing companies to compete in this technology services space."

You can reach Eric Morath at (313) 222-2504 or emorath@detnews.com.

Chrysler to outsource hundreds of computer jobs

By TIM HIGGINS • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • April 2, 2008

Several hundred computer workers at Chrysler LLC will lose their jobs in a move announced today by the automaker to outsource computer system support and maintenance.

Chrysler information technology workers were told today that the company has signed agreements with Tata Consultancy Services and Computer Sciences Corp. for the firms to maintain and support mainframe, servers and corporate computer applications, Jan Bertsch, Chrysler vice president and chief information officer, told the Free Press in an interview.

"This is not just putting work with another supplier to reduce cost, we thought a year ago that rather than try to cost-cut continually over time, we wanted to step back and look at our business and say, 'Where do we really need to move to service our customers better?'" Bertsch said. "What we determined was that we were spending too much of our base budget on core maintenance of our systems and not enough in reinvesting in our business."

Bertsch declined to say how much money the move will save the automaker other than to say, "We would have never embarked on this scale of a project had the savings not been substantial."

Chrysler is beginning immediately on the project and hopes to have it done by the end of the third quarter.

The automaker has about 2,100 people handling the work presently -- of which around 1,000 are full-time Chrysler employees and the rest are supplemental workers on contract.

About 20% -- about 200 -- of the 1,000 full-time employees will lose their jobs because of the change, she said.

The company is not saying how many of the supplemental contract workers will lose their jobs in the switchover other than to indicate it will be several hundred. "It won't be the entire group but it will be more substantial than the salaried," she said.

"Some people will stay, some people will leave and some people will be interviewing with the new provider and perhaps be offered a position with them," she added.

Chrysler officials wouldn't say how much money the new providers will pay.

Chrysler has already had a relationship with Tata. Earlier this year, Chrysler signed a new deal with Tata to do computer work in sales, marketing and shared services as part of a multiyear contract reportedly worth $120 million.

Contact TIM HIGGINS at 313-222-8784 or thiggins@freepress.com.

IT Support for Telework Expands, but Is Offset by Security Concerns

Private-sector Telework Growth Approaches Federal Level

Federal Ability to Maintain Operations During a Disruption Continues to Outpace the Private Sector

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a wholly owned subsidiary of CDW Corporation and leading source of Information Technology (IT) solutions to governments and educators, today announced the findings of its fourth annual telework survey. According to the national survey of Federal government and private-sector employees and IT professionals, private-sector employers have taken significant steps to expand telework initiatives, and private-sector telework adoption is approaching the Federal level, with 14 percent of private-sector employees teleworking, compared to 17 percent of Federal employees.

The CDW-G survey shows that 76 percent of private-sector employers provide technical support for remote workers, up 27 percentage points over 2007. Federal agencies remain strong advocates for telework, also called telecommuting, with 56 percent of Federal IT professionals indicating that their agencies provide IT support for teleworkers. Since 2005, Federal IT support has grown 23 percent, according to a year-over-year trend analysis of telework survey data.

Federal law requires agencies to enable telework for 100 percent of eligible employees. Drivers for Federal telework adoption include military base closings and realignments, traffic congestion around major metropolitan areas, and environmental impacts, as well as enabling productivity for field workers and planning for continuity of operations in the event of natural or manmade catastrophes.

Telework and IT security

Alongside the increase in technical support for teleworkers, the percentage of Federal employees eligible to work remotely dipped to 40 percent from its high of 55 percent in 2006. The drop coincides with continuing concern about IT security; IT professionals in both sectors cited security as their top concern about telework, with 42 percent of Federal IT professionals and 27 percent of private-sector IT professionals indicating that it is their most pressing challenge.

"More stringent IT security policies are controlling telework expansion in the Federal government," said Andy Lausch, senior director of Federal sales for CDW-G. "Federal agencies recognize that IT security and telework can co-exist, and they are carefully managing telework programs hand-in-hand with layered technology solutions that protect data and networks while enabling the increased productivity and flexibility that telework affords."

Overall, IT professionals appear confident in their organizations' IT security measures. Eighty-four percent of Federal IT professionals and 88 percent of private-sector IT professionals said their organization's IT security procedures and systems are effective. Fifty-six percent of Federal agencies and 74 percent of private-sector employers authenticate teleworkers separately from the remote computers they use, ensuring that they know not only what devices are accessing their networks, but also who is at the keyboard. Moreover, nearly 70 percent of Federal and private-sector employers are providing the computers and other equipment teleworkers use, adding an additional measure of control.

Despite those security protections, the survey revealed a gap in awareness that could introduce security weaknesses: 21 percent of Federal employees and 31 percent of private-sector employees say they are not aware of their organization's corporate security policies, potentially opening the door to behaviors that risk security breaches.

Telework capability benefits continuity planning, employee recruitment

Ever-heightening concerns with traffic congestion, air pollution and gasoline prices increase the attraction of telework, and the 2008 CDW-G Telework Report also finds that the telework option could improve employee recruitment, satisfaction and retention. In fact, 50 percent of Federal employees and 40 percent of private-sector employees say that the option to telework would influence their decision to remain with their employer or take a new job.

Further, broad telework adoption could ensure the continuity of government and business operations in the aftermath of a major catastrophe, or even for the duration of a minor disruptive event, such as a snowstorm, tornado or wildfire – and this year's survey finds mixed news on that topic. Consistent with the decrease in Federal telework eligibility, Federal employees' ability to continue to work remotely in the event of a natural or man-made disaster has declined significantly since 2007, with 59 percent of Federal employees indicating that they could telework during a disruption, down from 75 percent in 2007. In the private sector, continuity of operations capability increased but still trails the Feds, with 46 percent of employees indicating that they could continue working during a disruption, up from 33 percent in 2007.

The value of telework to continuity of operations is clear, with more than half of Federal employees who can continue working during a disruption indicating that they are eligible to telework. In the private sector, the benefit is even more dramatic, with more than 70 percent of employees who can continue working indicating that their company has a telework program.

"The private sector is solidly embracing telework. Continuity of operations alone could justify the investment, and improved employee satisfaction is icing on that cake," said Ken Grimsley, vice president of strategic sales for CDW. "Still, many businesses remain unprepared for recovery from disruptions or are failing to take advantage of affordable, advanced security technologies that are justifiable even without telework. We have a long way to go."

About the 2008 CDW-G Telework Report

The only concurrent survey of both end-user employees and the Information Technology (IT) professionals who support them, the 2008 CDW-G Telework Report surveyed more than 1,800 Federal government and private-sector employees and IT professionals nationwide. Federal respondents include 550 employees and 273 Federal IT professionals returning results with a ±4.12 percent and ±5.89 percent margin of error respectively. Private-sector respondents include 539 employees and 452 IT professionals returning results with a ±4.16 percent and ±4.56 percent margin of error respectively.

For purposes of the survey, CDW-G defines "telework" (or "telecommuting") as employees doing their current job during regular work hours from home or another location away from the employer's primary work locations.

Other data points in the report include:

• Federal and private-sector interest in telework
• Continuity of operations planning (COOP) preparedness
• Current telework security solutions
• Drivers for telework
• Teleworker productivity
• Employee and IT professional perceptions of telework

For more information on the CDW-G Telework Report or to download a copy, please visit www.cdwg.com/telework.