4 Reasons Why Employers Must Encourage Telecommuting

Why should employers allow employees to work from home?  The following post has four good reasons.

2.5% of the U.S. employee workforce (3.1 million people, not including the self-employed or unpaid volunteers) considers home their primary place of work. it is also estimated that 20 to 30 million Americans work from home at least one day a week.-According to an analysis byTeleworkResearchNetwork.com Attract and Retain Employees

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4 Reasons Why Employers Must Encourage Telecommuting

5 work-from-home companies you need to know about

Young woman on the phone working from home. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Working from home is a popular pursuit, according to research by the Telework Research Network. The research group reports that one in five employed Americans work from home at least one day a week, and about 3 million workers never set foot into an office outside home. That number is expected to increase 63 percent in the next five years, thanks in part to greenhouse gas reduction and company savings. Continue Reading

What Telecommuting Can Do for You

Whether you are an employer or an employee, telecommuting offers benefits to you.  The following infographic shows how working from home can help you personally and financially. Continue Reading

97% of Employers Have No Plans to Eliminate Telecommuting a la Yahoo! and Best Buy

Marissa Mayer of Yahoo!

When big box retailer Best Buy followed in the footsteps of Yahoo! Inc. by altering its telecommuting policies for employees, some undoubtedly concluded that there would soon be a flood of companies doing the same.  However, a new survey indicates that Best Buy may be in the minority, with the overwhelming percentage of companies planning to maintain their telecommuting policies.

According to the survey, 80 percent of the 120 human resources executives polled said their companies currently offer some form of telecommuting option to employees with 97 percent of them saying there are no plans to eliminate that benefit. 

The survey was conducted by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. in the days following Yahoo’s widely reported and controversial plan to bring work-at-home employees back to the office. Continue Reading

Telecommuting Benefits Environment, Worker Productivity, Job Satisfaction, and Profits

John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

With a new report detailing the growing cost of daily commuting to and from work, one workplace authority wonders if it is time for the nation’s employers to make a serious commitment to expanding the use of telecommuting strategies.

“Right now, a very small fraction of the nation’s workers who could viably work from home on a regular basis are actually doing so.  By not expanding the use of telecommuting, employers are negatively impacting the environment, worker productivity, job satisfaction and, most importantly, their bottom lines.  And, it is not a lack of technology or other resources that is holding back this expansion.  It is simply a lack of vision, a shortage of trust and an irrational adherence to antiquated notions of how and where work should be done,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Continue Reading

Telecommuters Say More Freedom Leads to Increased Productivity and Provides Benefits

It appears that employees enjoy the professional and personal benefits of working from home.

TeamViewer® announced the findings of its survey of 500 American adults ages 18 and older who work from home either full time or part time, conducted online by uSamp in October. The survey found that fully half (50%) of telecommuters feel that they are more productive working from home, with 23% even saying that they are much more productive. Continue Reading

Benefits of Results Only Work Environment (ROWE)

As economic conditions continue to slowly improve and companies are once again beginning to hire new employees to rebuild their workforce, employers across the country are looking for ways to attract and retain employees without resorting to hefty pay increases or expensive benefit plans. As a result, some employers have found that adopting a results-only work environment (ROWE) may be the key to creating an attractive work environment for employees.

ROWE evaluates employees solely on their output and not the amount of time spent in the office. Employees are free to take as much time off from work as needed as long as their established goals are being met. Employees working under ROWE are not micro-managed and hold greater accountability for the work they are producing. There have been reports of companies who, as a result of adopting ROWE, have experienced increased employee productivity and reduced voluntary turnover. Continue Reading

Couch Potatoes Wanted

What is your favorite part of your job? The fact that you have an awesome coffee machine? What about the fact that you only have to work three days a week? There can be many benefits of your job depending on where you work. As we struggle to bring down our national unemployment rates, those with jobs often find themselves feeling lucky that they just have a job. Still, there can be pains in having a job. Do you have to commute over an hour both ways each day? Wouldn’t it be nice if some jobs would allow you the option of working from home? Well couch potatoes unite; there are now more options for you to work in the comfort of your fuzzy pajamas. Continue Reading

Telecommuting Would Lead Americans to Make Sacrifices

What would you be willing to give up in order to telecommute, or work from home or other locations?

TeamViewer® has announced the findings of its survey of over 2,500 American adults aged 18 and older, conducted online by Harris Interactive in January.  The survey found that most Americans believe that more people want the option to telecommute (62%) with an overwhelming percentage (83%) believing that telecommuting is on the rise.  Specifically, the survey found that Americans believe: Continue Reading

Could You Live Abroad and Keep Your Job?

You don’t have to tell Barry Frangipane that the Internet has made the world a little smaller.

Frangipane, a software engineer, was used to telecommuting from his home in Tampa Bay, but he didn’t realize how far telecommuting could reach until he read Under the Tuscan Sun, a book about an American who chucked it all to live in Italy.

“The key about Under the Tuscan Sun was that they had a ton of money,” said Frangipane, author of The Venice Experiment, a memoir that chronicles their year living in Europe while he telecommuted to his software job in the states. “Shoot, anyone could move to a foreign country with a ton of money.  We wanted to see if a typical middle-class couple could do it, with a job. We looked at the realities of it, and theorized it could work. On the downside, my wife Debbie wouldn’t be able to keep her job, as she did not telecommute. On the upside, we could sell both cars and eliminate the monthly tab for two car payments and the associated insurance. Further, we both prided ourselves on being great cooks, so we’d be able to experiment with European dishes in our own kitchen – in Europe!” Continue Reading