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reflections
Telework: Will it Protect OUR HOMES AND OUR RIGHTS?
By Matthias Sturm // PhD Candidate in Education, Simon Fraser University
Since the start of the pandemic, working from home has been at the centre of a cultural struggle of national significance. But telework has been around for some time. The term “tele work” was coined by Jack Nilles in 1973, referring to “moving the work to the worker instead of the other way around”.1 This means all work outside of the office, because of COVID-19, especially at home. Moreover, this is not the first time that technology has changed our lives so profoundly. Not long ago, the television entered our homes, changed how we arranged the furniture, and stayed for good. Today, telework disrupts our daily routines in the same way and more. How will our homes and our rights be affected by the changes brought on by telework? We have already created spaces for office desks where there were none before. For many, the kitchen table has become the place where working and learning takes place.
Jack M. Nilles. Managing Telework: Strategies for Managing the Virtual Workforce. Wiley, 1998
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