Please note that these are case studies of teleworkers that illustrate different types of teleworking, and that these people are not necessarily members of the Union.

Mark McGloughlin provides support services for Motorola's HR information systems in Europe, the Middle East and Africa - from Cork. Mark spends 2 days a week in the office at Blackrock, he works at home using an ISDN link for 1 day, and the rest of the time he is travelling, or at one of Motorola's many sites. "I tend not to use the computer when flying or in airports - I prefer to catch up on reading and calls. It is a new discipline - instead of popping in to see my boss, I have to make sure I get all the information I need from one phone call. I enjoy it, though, because often I can avoid flying, whichI hate, and I spend more time with my family."

Nicola Sheridan had worked as a systems analyst in Dublin for 11 years, but moved to Castlebar after her marriage. Her boss figured she could do the job from home so Nicola converted some space over her garage into an office - VHI supplied the equipment. Nicola travels to Dublin once a month, and her boss visits Castlebar at least once a year. "I'm delighted to have kept my job, but I always knew it would affect my promotion prospects - have I lost my career?"

Regina McGarrigle set up Mayo Editorial Services to offer services to scientific publishers. She works from a room in her home in Castlebar using a desktop PC, printer and modem. Regina prepares abstracts of scientific papers, and does copy editing and proofreading as well as preparing indexes. "When my children were growing up, part time teleworking let me to raise my family and make a success of my work," she explains. Now she advertises on the Internet for overseas customers who want teleworkers with the right skills.

Kevin Sweeney is head of Agilent, HP's test and measurement company in Ireland. He can work from home when he wants to using a 64 kbit ISDN line installed by the company, or he can use his laptop and GSM phone when he's on the road. The main benefit to Kevin is time saved commuting. "I used to leave at 6.45 to beat the traffic and get some work done before the office warmed up. Now I get up later, see my children before they go to school and generally feel less stressed". He also reports fewer distracting interruptions. Teleworking is part of HP's company philosophy to teach employees to "work smarter, not longer".

Corinna Kenna works in Telecom's Teleservices & Telesales call centre answering calls to the 1904 information service. "It's a job that requires an even temper - you can't afford to get stressed out, but there's plenty of human interest and it's much more fulfilling than my previous work as a secretary." The call centre computer monitors how many calls each agent takes, and how long they last. Each morning the agents are briefed on the previous day's statistics: "There's brilliant team spirit but we all keep an eye on how we're doing too".