Following the outbreak of the corona virus, millions of Chinese residents began working from home. This step was carried out at short notice and although remote work policies have been implemented in China so far at a relatively low rate compared to the West. In Israel, too, the economy is moving to a similar model
By: Rinat Markovich, Angle - Science and Environment News Agency
Although the consequences of the largest natural experiment of its kind conducted in the implementation of remote work will only be seen further down the road, studies show that given appropriate preparation, remote work contributes to increasing the productivity of employees and increases the employee's sense of belonging to the organization and general satisfaction.
for example, A new expert report Initiated by the Israeli Association for Ecology and Environmental Sciences in collaboration An interface program for the application of science in government, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety, recommends that employers in the public and private sector adopt the remote work model to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and, of course, reduce road congestion. Besides the positive contribution of this way of working to the environment, remote work can help employers save on transportation and real estate expenses, as well as promote equal opportunities in the employment market.
Even before the outbreak of the corona virus, there was an increase in the implementation of a policy of remote work in the world in view of the trend of increasing congestion on the roads in the main cities, alongside technological developments that enable high-quality communication between employees located in different parts of the world. In Israel, road congestion has increased significantly in recent decades. In fact, in the last 40 years (1976-2017) the density of vehicle traffic in Israel has more than tripled and is currently the highest in the OECD countries, 3.5 times the average in these countries.
The increasing congestion on the roads may lead to significant economic damages to the economy. According to an economic transportation analysis conducted in 2012 in collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Finance, if the trend continues unchanged, then in 2030 every car passenger will be expected to spend over 60 additional minutes on average per day on the roads (compared to the situation in 2012) due to the expected congestion, when The total man-hours wasted in traffic congestion Expected to reach 850 million hours per year. The researchers Omer Moav and Shani Schreiber estimate that in 2040 the cost to the economy for the loss of working hours in terms of lost product will stand at about NIS 100 billion.
Besides the direct damage to the product as a result of loss of working hours, there are additional external costs caused by the congestion on the roads. These costs include, for example, environmental pollution and increased morbidity, congestion that leads to traffic delays for other drivers and harm to well-being, noise damage, wear and tear caused to infrastructure, climate change and road accidents And they affect the general public economically and in other ways. Encouraging telecommuting will make it possible to create a change in travel habits in Israel: instead of traveling to central employment areas during peak hours, telecommuting will allow employees to work in branches or workspaces close to their homes and thus avoid traveling on central traffic routes where there is heavy congestion or even avoid using transportation altogether, in the case of work from afar.
According to the new expert committee report, other tools that can create a change in the travel habits of employees include congestion charges, the establishment of park and ride parking lots, encouraging collaborative travel and employers' transportation programs, the main of which is increasing the range of options available to employees for getting to work. In addition, there are other models of flexible employment, such as a "bank" of working hours, a compressed work week or the possibility of working extra hours from home, a model that is currently implemented in the public sector for employees who meet the required criteria.
It is clear that remote work has the potential to reduce travel in Israel, a change that can lead to a reduction in traffic congestion, a reduction in pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution, in traffic accidents and wear and tear on infrastructure. These changes will in turn lead to an increase in well-being and the quality of life of the entire economy. However, effectively dealing with road congestion will require a combination of several tools to change the public's travel habits and different models for flexible employment, which will be determined according to the needs of the employees and the organization. An informed choice of the right tools as well as appropriate assessments on the part of the organization will make it possible to get the best out of the organizational change.
The author is a fellow of the "Interface" program at the Ministry of Finance
One response
The need to leave the house to work is an evolutionary relic, from a time when we were small hunters. The solution, that the employer will reward the employee to go for a morning run together before working from home, in order to satisfy the evolutionary need to hunt.