Working From Home

The Ministry of Works is starting a work-from-home program for selected members of its staff. Thirty nine (39) ministry employees, many of them are draftsmen, will begin an experimental work-from-home program for three months starting in January 2010 (read the news here). It makes sense to let people work from home especially if the nature of their work requires minimal face-to-face contact with customers. Many occupations fall into this category such as analysts, designers, writers, draftsmen, programmers, and animators. The key success factor is to select employees who are consistently reliable and can work under minimum supervision. I am sure the ministry has taken that into consideration before starting this program. I don't know how much the private sector in Malaysia supports work-from-home practice. I believe at the moment, the people who work from home are mostly freelancers. Working from home will bring considerable amount of cost saving especially if you live in the Klang Valley where a lot of time is spent commuting between home and office. By working from home, you eliminate commuting time and make use of the extra time available for more productive purposes. Obviously, the biggest benefit is having the flexibility to manage your time so that you can juggle between work, family and other commitments. The Ministry of Works is the first government agency to introduce such program. I must congratulate the ministry for taking this initiative. I hope the experiment works and eventually the work-from-home program can be expanded to other agencies in the public sector.