Work is Moving to the Cloud
Regan Parker, Director of Workforce Innovation and Advocacy

Regan Parker, Director of Workforce Innovation and Advocacy

With Monday’s announcement of iCloud, the tech world seemed to embrace, once and for all, that we are moving into the cloud. As Apple CEO, Steve Jobs said in his announcement, “we’re going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud.” Now, nobody has to be tethered to a PC or a device.

Just as the PC was once the hub of your digital life, the office has been the hub or your work life. But, no more.

You don’t have to be tethered to an office or specific geographic location to find meaningful work.

Even the Federal Government is noticing this change. The Washington Post recently reported on the findings of a study by the Telework Exchange of the federal government’s enactment of telework policies for federal workers. The report cited a 32 percent increase in teleworking by federal employees, both for regular work hours and as-needed circumstances.

Last year, President Obama signed into law the Telework Enhancement Act requiring federal agencies to enact policies to better support teleworking. And, during last year’s DC snowstorms, the federal government reportedly saved $30 million by having employees work from home.

The US Government is currently the largest user of cloud services, and also employs more people than any other company or agency in the country. But, with proposals to cut the federal government workforce by 10% to cut costs, why not fire the facilities and operational costs by moving the workforce to the cloud? Not only could the government cut spending, but it could keep people employed, increase productivity and attract a high caliber workforce.

All the pieces are there for the government to make work actually work for its employees. Instead of looking to eliminate programs or jobs why not embrace the cloud and provide more opportunities for work to be location agnostic?