Federal Teleworking: A look at the numbers

The teleworking data from 2008 is in. Last year more than 100,000 employees participated in telework. This is roughly 5 percent of the total federal employee population. With 64 percent of employees teleworking one-three days a week.

The findings are part of the Office of Personnel Managment's annual Call for Telework Data. The teleworking program which first started in 2001 is still not fully integrated in almost half of agencies. The two biggest reasons behind this lack of integration was office coverage and management resistance.

Twenty-seven agencies reported cost/benefit savings as a result of telework, mostly in terms of employee moral. Overall the number of teleworkers increased by more than 8,000 workers from 2007 to 2008. But the number of eligible employees decreased from 1.2 million to 1.1 million.

The agencies with the largest jump in teleworkers was in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Specific Agency Information:

• Some agencies with substantial increases in total number of teleworkers:

- Department of Health and Human Services (11,272 to 12,785)

- Department of Interior (6,624 to 10,759)

- Department of Transportation (4,511 to 6,705)

- Department of Veterans Affairs (1,788 to 4,161)

- General Services Administration (1,727 to 4,754)

- National Labor Relations Board (224 to 368)

- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (268 to 442)

- Patent and Trademark Office (3,612 to 4,395)

• Some agencies with substantial decreases in total number of teleworkers:

- Department of Commerce (3,966 to 2,979)

- Department of Defense (17,921 to 16,871)

- Department of Justice (2,848 to 1,753)

- Department of State (2,447 to 1,004)

- Department of Treasury (6,861 to 5,444)

- Social Security Administration (4,011 to 3,440)

- U.S. International Trade Commission (149 to 64)

• Some sub-agencies with substantial increases in total number of teleworkers:

- Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (12 to 276)

- Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (1,524 to 2,742)

- Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (4,750 to 8,857)

- Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (773 to 1,869)

For a full rundown of the results click here.

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