The  widespread  use of computers and  modern  communications

          equipment has made "remote work" more and more common.  Jobs that

          peviously needed to be performed at the office can now be done at

          home, cheaply and more efficiently.  If this now fairly  uncommon

          trend  becomes  more  widespread,  it  could  cause great  social

          change.  One can even say that  the  current  level  of  computer

          telecommunications sophistication has led us to the brink of what

          is destined to be a small  social  revolution.   Among  the  most

          important effects of "remote work"  are  the  changes  in  family

          life, the urban centers, and the equality of  woman  in  the work

          place.


              "Remote work" as defined by Margaret H. Olsen  in her article

          "Remote Office Work: Changing Work Patterns in Space and Time" is

          "Organizational   work   performed   outside   of   the    normal

          organizational confines of  space  and time."  (p.182) This means

          that by  using  computers and telephone links a worker can do his

          job anywhere that has a terminal  and  a  telephone.   This  idea

          rests on the assumption that the purpose of  the classical office

          is dual fold: to provide access to equipment  and  files,  and to

                                                    1K          allow  a  share  of  ideas  between peers.  If this is  the  only

          function  of  the  office,  then  the  office can be replaced  by

          "remote work" quite easily.  A remote terminal can have  complete

          access to a company's files, and telephones and  electronic  mail


K          ----------

          1. Mandell and Hooper.  Ch.9



                                        - 1 -










          have  already  replaced face to face meetings much of  the  time.

          However, there is more to the office  than what we have discussed

          so far.


              An office  provides  more than a desk and a file cabinet, and

          so it becomes  evident  that  the  office  cannot  be replaced so

          easily.  It soon becomes clear that only certain jobs can be done

          remotely, and only certain people are suited for remote work.


              The most  obvious  problem with a work at home option is that

          most people  find living, eating, sleeping, working, and relaxing

          all in the same place to be a horror.  For millions of Americans,

          the 'drive to work', in  whatever form they may take , is as much

          part  of  the  average  day  as  the first cup of coffee and  the

          morning paper.  Even though commuting to work  can  be  straining

          and annoying, people seem to enjoy the change  of  scene  that an

          office provides.  In  fact  for  many  commuters  who  take  mass

          transit, the commute is a social event,  in which lunch plans are

          made, appointments organized, and the morning news digested.  The

          throngs of people  sharing  a  common  experience  also  share  a

          certain bond, or  camaraderie,  although this is often manifested

          in different ways.  Those that chose to  drive their cars to work

          alone, share a different experience,  rush  hour  frustation  and

          anxiety.  Another way of looking at this phenmenon  of  commuting

          to work, is to see the whole process as an extrodinary  waste  of

          human  capital,  as it lays dormant, neither at the  job  in  the

          course of productive activity, nor at home, enjoying  their  time




                                        - 2 -










          off.  Thus, the commuter is in a sort of "limbo", in which he/she

                                                                        2K          is neither in the pursuit of wages nor the pursuit of liesure.


              In  addition,  not everyone has a happy