By Brenda Lord, George Stuart and Tony Leger of Nortel IT

This case study discusses the results of a recent Nortel IT study on the economic, social and environmental benefits of our Integrated Work Environment program serving thousands of casual teleworkers and home-based workers at Nortel.

Nortel has actively encouraged teleworking as a way for employees to balance their work and personal lives for nearly 15 years. Our goal has been to provide a cost effective way for people to work from home. In addition to the economic benefits, today we want to know the social and environmental impact teleworking has for those Nortel employees who primarily work from home and those who occasionally work from home.

Nortel implemented its teleworking program in 1994. Fifteen years later it has evolved into a component of Nortel's Integrated Work Environment , a global program managed by IT, Real Estate and Human Resources and includes home-based workers, casual teleworkers and roaming employees within Nortel offices and campuses.

Our IWE program categorizes teleworkers into two main types:

• The casual teleworkers are categorized as "fixed-address" workers because they have a dedicated seat at a Nortel office but may occasionally work at home or on the road. On average 63% of Nortel employees work at least one day every month from somewhere other than a Nortel office.
• Our home-based employees are categorized as "free-address" workers because they don't have an assigned space in a Nortel office. Eleven percent of Nortel employees are registered home-based workers

In a recent study of three Nortel sites in North America, Nortel IT compared the economic, social and environmental impacts between casual teleworkers and home-based workers in our IWE program. The study found that teleworking at Nortel * has quantifiable, positive impact to our bottom line, the environment, and the quality of life for those involved.

Economic: Nortel Real Estate reports each home-based employee saves Nortel $9,000 in office space and associated energy costs every year. With 11 percent of Nortel's employees classified as home-based workers, the overall savings equates to $24.5 million annually. Nortel eliminates office workspaces for home-based workers and creates free address workspaces for drop in use. Furthermore, the company avoids $1.7M annually by providing home-based workers with enterprise-grade IP phones in lieu of a dedicated home business line.

Nortel is not the only beneficiary of this program. Employee savings can also be substantial. In our study, we found our employees have an average daily round trip commute of 31 miles using 1.5 gallons of fuel. Nortel teleworkers save approximately 3.4 million gallons of fuel annually and over 1.9 million hours in commute time. That's over 100 hours saved annually for each of our teleworkers, or the equivalent to approximately 13 working days.

Environmental: The IT study found our teleworkers make over two million fewer commutes every year. Besides saving these teleworkers money at the pump, over 24.3 metric tons of CO2 emissions are avoided and 125 million kWh in energy is saved annually. The study found the rebound effect * was minimal given the amount of energy saved by our teleworkers not driving more than offset the incremental energy used to heat/cool their home and run their computer. The annual net energy savings was estimated to equal 4,745 kWh per teleworker at Nortel, or a total of over 86 million kWh.

Social: Surveys of Nortel teleworkers indicate that teleworking produces significant personal benefits; specifically an increased sense of well-being and reduced stress. Whether a casual or home-based teleworker, employees report the program increases their flexibility and overall work-life balance. With only a 2-3 percent annual employee opt-out rate, Nortel's home-based program has proven to be very popular.

In addition to improving the satisfaction and productivity for thousands of Nortel's employees that telework at least one day a month, the economic, environmental and social impacts are significant.

We have learned a considerable amount from our 15 years of experience making work a thing employees do, not a place they go. For the program to be successful, it must be suitable to the employee's job function and personal situation. Employees need to be fully trained on the technology and aware of the program polices and procedures. Finally, the program requires a good registration and auditing process to ensure Nortel office space is relinquished when employees become home-based.

Copyright © 2008 Nortel Networks. All Rights Reserved.

The business case and/or financial information presented in this document is based on Nortel research and is intended for illustrative purposes only. It is based on certain assumptions. These assumptions may be different from actual operating factors and may not take into account all factors potentially affecting results. Actual results may vary from what is presented here. While Nortel strives to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in this document, Nortel does not represent or warrant the accuracy or completeness of this information and cannot be liable for reliance on or use thereof. This document is subject to change without notice.

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