Taking It Home: Telecommuting Options Drive Workplace Success

The nation’s current economic crisis may be spurring more companies to offer telecommuting as a work option to help retain employees and save them money. A number of states are ahead of this curve, creating telecommuting policies and encouraging companies to do the same in an effort to reduce pollution and congestion, conserve energy and increase the efficiency and productivity of employees.
This article highlights a number of statistics that confirm the growing popularity of telecommuting, including:

• From 1995-2001 telecommuting grew from a negligible number to 10.4 million people;
• 44 percent of U.S. companies offered employees telecommuting options in 2005, a 32 percent increase from 2001; and
• One in four employers is expected to offer telecommuting or compressed work schedules to employees for the first time in the next six months.

The author describes the successes of a number of company telecommuting programs as well as the economic and environmental impacts they have had. She sees accountability as the key to ensuring the success of any telecommuting program and advises employers to maximize their chances for success by carefully assessing if the work involved can be effectively completed outside of the office and weighing the potential expenses of equipment, phone lines and Internet connections for employees who don’t already have these at home.

Source: Hilary Ingoldsby Whitesides – Utah Business; Jan, 2009