Soaring fuel prices push telecommuting trend — for now

by Christopher Elliott on August 1, 2008

A just-released government survey suggests America’s workforce is hanging up the car keys, unpacking its bags and staying home to work. About a third of the respondents to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ 2006 omnibus survey said they telecommuted during the past week. The number jumped to 44 percent last year.

Those that can’t stay home are abbreviating their commutes by going to so-called telework centers — usually government-funded spaces that offer the perks of an office, including copy machines and water coolers, much closer to home.

All of which raises the question: Is the great American commute finally dead?

Probably not. A look at past telecommuting trends reveals that there’s usually a return to the office (after all, some workers need to be supervised). And there’s always fuel-price amnesia, which happens whenever gas prices drop, as they have recently.

What will it take to make the changes permanent? It will take more than a money reason. The financial benefits of telecommuting are not in dispute. Telecommute America says the average productivity gain for teleworkers with broadband access is $5,000 per year. Absentee savings are $2,000 per year, and companies report saving $7,920 per worker annually on recruitment and retention costs.

Instead, it may require Americans to re-imagine work, from a social to a solitary endeavor. And in the end, that may be the most difficult hurdle to overcome.

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Tagged as: telecommuting, travel

  • Michelle

    Telecommuting would be a dream and will stay a dream for me since my department head is adament none of his people will work from home. Which is too bad since other departments have no problems with it. I come to work to work, not socialize.

  • Anonymous

    Being a misanthropic curmudgeon, I have not been happy in cubicle land. I finally got a telecommuting job and only have to face my boss, a lawyer, over the phone and maybe twice a month if we overlap when I deliver work. This has not only aided my sanity, but my budget and saves him money, since I don’t have to waste my time in inane co-worker conversations and silly birthday/retirement/shower “celebrations” that always take place on the clock.. The oil companies would hate it, if everyone felt like I do.

  • Jake

    ‘And there’s always fuel-price amnesia, which happens whenever gas prices drop, as they have recently.’

    I remember gas under $3 a gallon…

  • Mike

    I took a full-time telecommuting job in 2007 and I am mostly happy with the decision. I meet with my colleagues quarterly for a week of meetings.

    I walk somewhere for lunch to get some social contact, and I finally have time to accept invitations from neighbors and friends.

  • http://www.remoteofficecenters.com aullman

    One of the main reasons that telecommuting efforts have failed in the past is because employers simply gave employees a VPN and a laptop, and told them they could work from home. They did not provide anything else in way of support, facilities or infrastructure. This was not an effective solution.

    Many people actually do work remotely, however they do so from a real office. They work on computer systems that are hosted remotely, and work for a manager located in another office location. These employees do effectively telecommute, but they do so from a real office with real infrastructure. That is why it works.

    The best way to make telecommuting work is to focus on employee needs. The needs are: 1. professional grade infrastructure, 2. professional office space, 3. professional phone system. 4. an office separated from distractions around the home.

    The solution is to work remotely in a facility that provides the facilities that employees are used to and need.

    Remote Office Centers are the perfect solution. Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet and phone systems to workers from different companies in shared centers located around the city and suburbs.

    Remote Office Centers are fairly new, but can be found in most large cities by doing a web search on “Remote Office Centers” in quotes.

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