Example employment dissertation topic 7:

The virtual office: Employment opportunities and working lifestyle perceptions amongst commuters in Buckinghamshire.

Basing the focus of its primary research upon the town of Amersham, this dissertation looks at changing perceptions to work and employment opportunities in this London commuter belt. Noting the rise of the virtual office, the increased need to work from home in times of bad weather, and the ever-increasing cost of commuting, this dissertation seeks to interview 100 commuters. Through analysing the answers that they give to a series of short answer questions, this dissertation hopes to be able to advance a series of suggestions through which city-based firms could enable more of their work force to work from home (thereby saving money for workers and firms, and also contributing to the green agenda) whilst also ensuring that existing levels of productivity are not jeopardised.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Baines, S. (2002). ‘New technologies and old ways of working in the home of the self-employed teleworker’. New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 17(2), pp. 89-101.
• Felstead, A., Jewson, N., Phizacklea, A. and Walters, S. (2006). ‘Opportunities to work at home in the context of work-life balance’. Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 12(1), pp. 54-76.
• Harris, L. (2003). ‘Home-based teleworking and the employment relationship: Managerial challenges and dilemmas’. Personnel Review, vol. 32(4), pp. 422-437.