Employee Productivity Up, Air Pollution Down: Score One for Telecommuting

This article discusses the advantages of teleworking, noting that most studies predict that one-third of the nation’s workforce will be part- or full-time teleworkers by 2005. Helping to spur future growth is federal legislation introduced in Congress to give tax breaks to companies offering telecommuting. Additionally, pilot programs of telecommuting incentives by the EPA are in place in Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. If pilot programs are successful, companies offering the telecommuting option will be eligible to receive pollution credits that could be traded, sold, donated or used for an IRS tax break. The EPA estimates that the program could reduce emissions by 2,613 tons a year for every 100,000 people who participate.

Concerns about management, legal liabilities and data security are addressed but the author believes that ultimately they will succumb to the advantages of productivity gains and real estate cost savings. The key seems to be to achieve enough participation to reduce square footage to the point that corporations incorporate telecommuting into their corporate real estate strategy. The article includes a discussion of the telecommuting programs at Mapics, Inc. and Cisco Systems.

Source: Dan Emerson, Plants, Sites and Parks; New York; September, 2002