How can teleworking be pro‐poor?

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine evidence in order to discover if teleworking has a pro‐poor growth impact – reducing inequality. For this reason, the paper seeks to propose a telework taxonomy for the poor and research questions that trigger future empirical research on poor teleworkers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's approach is a literature review. The focused literature includes articles that analyze telework issues with a potential for the poor. Such issues are mainly workforce and organizational issues.FindingsThere is some evidence that provision of teleworking infrastructure has a dramatic effect on the income and quality of life of the rural poor. Special knowledge management tasks and types of telework can be proper for poor people. Economic and organizational aspects of telecentres for poor workers must be analyzed in depth.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a foundation for future research directions in the teleworking domain for the poor. For instance, the discussed implementation aspects of teleworking and the proposed telework taxonomy for the poor as well as the proposed research questions could be used to explore effective penetration of teleworking in poor countries. New conceptual frameworks for implementing telework for the poor can be generated.Practical implicationsAn overview is provided of which issues/prerequisites are being considered most broadly and which might provide the most potential for policy makers/managers fighting poverty by using telework.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the teleworking literature by analyzing how telework can be pro‐poor. It provides a useful overview of the topic. It proposes a telework taxonomy for the poor and three research questions that trigger future empirical research on poor teleworkers.