Pentagon rolls over teleworkers

While telecommuting is taking the federal government by storm, the Pentagon is cutting back on its telecommuting ranks. The reason: security issues. This change of policy comes at a time when the number of federal agencies allowing telework is expanding.

But at the Pentagon, the numbers are shrinking. In 2006, the Pentagon had nearly 35,000 teleworkers. The next year, that number fell almost 50 percent, to about 18,000, according to a report by the Office of Personnel Management.

The report gave several reasons for the dropoff. "First, DOD is on the frontlines of United States war efforts, and all resources are tightly controlled," the report explained. "Second, and very closely related, in this wartime environment, with even civilian employees on the front lines, DOD is extremely concerned about information and data security."

For more on federal teleworkers:
- check out this washingtonpost.com article
- also see this report on telework