Network: Teleworking classes

New technology is creating further divisions between city and country, says Paul Gosling

Britain is becoming a country of new technology regions, each with its own skill base and pay rates, according to a recent report. While the M40 corridor is home to computer programmers, the old industrial cities such as Manchester are low-wage centres for data processing.

"We are seeing the paradox of choice," says Ursula Huws, research director and an associate fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies. Instead of teleworking making location less important, for many functions it is the primary factor, as it can open up access to workforces that are used to repetitive tasks and poor pay.

Similarly, teleworking can add to the pressures of living in the right place, giving self-employed people the ideal address for their profession, while allowing them to move near a school that gives the best education for their children. Contrary to previous predictions, there is likely to be a greater demand for properties in prime commuter-belt territory.

"The privileged heartlands to the west of London, with lots of higher- skilled, employed people, will attract more of the same, while rural areas without good infrastructure will fall further behind," says Ms Huws.

"Back-office functions are likely to move not to rural areas, but to old manufacturing heartlands where lower wages are paid."

The report, Teleworking and Rural Development, was commissioned by the Rural Development Commission to assist in trying to overcome the economic decline of many rural areas. The report makes clear that this can be achieved only if telecommunications services in remote areas are improved. Data processing needs ISDN phone connections if it is to be conducted in real time, yet many parts of the countryside do not have access to high-quality phone links.

A separate report, Telecommun-ications Development in Rural England, published simultaneously by the RDC, concludes that economic development in rural areas is being held back by poor quality telecommunications infrastructure. "Unless some sort of pump-priming is put into place, especially in the more remote rural areas, there is an increased risk of polarisation of the UK," Ms Huws explains.

The report's findings debunk much received wisdom about new technology's influence.

"We will see more regional specialism rather than more variety," suggests Ms Huws. "And this is likely to happen not just in the UK, but globally."

Office workplaces will increasingly mimic the factory, with rows of operatives undertaking the same activities. This will limit the potential for employees to work their way up through an organisation. It could also undermine equal opportunities legislation by making comparisons of grades and tasks more difficult, Ms Huws believes.

But the most worrying implication is the social effects of these trends. "We will see children of computer programmers in Berkshire go to school with other children of other computer programmers in Berkshire, and the same with data processors in Cleveland," suggests Ms Huws. "It will create the social ghettos you can already see in the United States".

`Teleworking and Rural Development' and `Telecommunications Development in Rural England' are each published by the Rural Development Commission (01722 432773) at pounds 17.