Federal Telework Continues to Increase

The percentage of federal employees who say they have the option to telework increased to 44 percent this year compared with 38 percent in 2006, according to the third annual telework survey conducted by CDW. Growth of the telework option in the private sector lags far behind, with only 15 percent of private-sector employees saying they have the option to telework. (However, 24 percent of private-sector employees said they did not know if they had an option to telework compared with only 9 percent in the federal government.). Federal telework options have been driven largely by law and the Defense Department's policy to offer telework options in order to retain employees, CDW reported. Do you have an opinion as to why telework is far more popular in the federal government than in the private sector?