Case No. 2: Austria - The Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying Policy environment So far the political actors in Austria have not developed a coherent and focused approach in
dealing with telework. Nevertheless, a variety of institutional stakeholders are engaged in fact-
finding, debate and promotion. A common concept for an increasing support is currently entering
the political agenda of the government, mainly planned as an incentive instrument for
employment creation and regional development. Austria's Central Statistical Office has recently
integrated telework in a special programme of the regular national panels (micro census).
33 One
of the major factors hindering a broader deployment of telework as identified by the domestic
practitioners is the cost of telecommunications; charges are the highest within the European
Union.
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has ordered a telework study
34 and figured
among the organisers of a conference dealing with the social implications of telework in the frame
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