Does "Out of Sight" Mean "Out of Mind"? An Empirical Investigation of the Career Advancement Prospects of Telecommuters

Abstract

The fear that telecommuting will have a negative impact on career advancement prospects has been a barrier to telecommuting acceptance. This study sought to examine whether professionals who telecommute on a part-time basis did indeed experience less advancement prospects than their non-telecommuting peers did. The results indicate that this fear is unfounded. Telecommuting did not have a direct effect on career advancement prospects or an indirect effect through job performance evaluations. Additionally, the level of telecommuting participation did not have an impact on career advancement. Employees who telecommuted more frequently did not experience significantly different job performance evaluations or career advancement prospects than those who telecommuted less. The paper concludes with the limitations of this study and directions for future research.