Panellists at a TT Chamber of Commerce virtual workshop said while there are still things to be considered while looking into a work-from-home policy for both the public and private sectors, it wouldn’t hurt to start the conversation about working from home, what is needed, its benefits and its drawbacks.
“It wouldn’t hurt to seed the idea and move toward it,” said Jonathan Cumberbatch, vice president at the University of TT (UTT). “I appreciate that there are difficulties, but having said that, it wouldn’t hurt to raise the topic and get it out there.”
Cumberbatch said the issue of traffic has reached crisis levels.
“I watch that traffic every morning and I cannot comprehend how someone would do this every morning – the idea of seeing these cars in front of them, then the flashing brake lights for two hours both ways. That is some people’s version of hell. It is unacceptable.
"I cannot speak to every job being laptop-based or what have you, but we do know that so much of the tasks can be done at home with a minimal IT infrastructure.”
The statement came in the wake of the Prime Minister saying that TT was not “sufficiently prepared” for a work-from-home policy while responding to questions in light of the increases in fuel prices announced in the 2022-2023 budget read on September 26.
“I don’t know that we are sufficiently prepared for that to be a major initiative, largely because it requires certain technical infrastructure and a certain level of discipline,” Rowley said. “Some people not even working in the office, so we have to be careful how we talk about that.” The PM later clarified that he was talking about the public sector.
In 2021 Newsday reported that the Ministry of Planning was drafting a work-from-home policy. Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said working from home for public-sector employees would require a robust digital environment, including infrastructure, skill redevelopment and revamping systems. She added that the Ministry of Digital Transformation would be instrumental in such a transformation of the work environment.
On Monday, during the third session of the Standing Finance Committee, Minister of Public Administration Allyson West echoed Rowley’s statements while fielding questions from the opposition.
“The public service is not quite ready for work from home, because we need to ascertain what needs to be put in place to allow for that in a seamless manner,” West said. “There are rules, there are KPIs to be drafted, there are kinds of equipment that has to be secured to allow for work from home. We have to assess those who can work from home.”
The government allotted $1 million to assess the requirements fora work-from-home policy.
“The plan is to engage a service provider to investigate the situation and advise us on what the work-from-home policy is, craft one for the TT public service and roll it out as the circumstances allow us to, as the public service becomes ready to handle work from home,” West said.
She said a request for proposals had been drafted and
