Within the last few weeks, much debate has arisen because of the announcement by the CEO of Yahoo that workers who have been telecommuting will soon have to begin working only from Yahoo physical offices instead. The debate focuses on the reasons for this change in policy, but much of the debate has raised questions about the benefits of telecommuting. One need only look at the comments section of several online articles about this change at Yahoo to see that many people who telecommute assert that they work much more productively at home, while others cling to their beliefs that telecommuters do not really “work” from home and are instead taking care of children, doing housework, or otherwise slacking off. This group also claims that face-to-face interaction is the only way to run a business. However, despite the claims that telecommuting workers are less productive than their in-office colleagues, strong evidence supports the opposing claim: telecommuting provides many benefits for employees, employers, and the environment. Overall, telecommuting offers advantages and flexibility to many people whether they telecommute fulltime or occasionally.
Before considering what the benefits of telecommuting are, it might be helpful to consider how and why telecommuting began and how it has evolved. Telecommuting is a fairly recent phenomenon, coming about after the period when more women entered the workforce than during the first half of the 20th century. As more families became dual-income families, logistical issues sometimes occurred. Someone would need to stay home occasionally to be there for a visit from the plumber, cable installation person, and so forth. Someone would occasionally need to stay at home with a sick child. On an informal basis, employees would simply arrange with their managers to take some work home with them for a few hours so they could be at home to deal with household issues.
In other instances, employees discovered that they could work better from home because of fewer distractions and/or less noise. For example, someone who was working on an important presentation, a proposal or budget might find it easier to take a company laptop home and work in relative peace and quiet, as opposed to being subject to ongoing interruptions at the office. Some types of tasks, such as writing or reviewing text or numbers, require focused attention that may be hard to achieve in an office environment. Especially as the prevalence of cubicles grew, replacing traditional offices that had doors with the open format of cubicles for many workers, background noise at work became a major issue. Speaking from both personal experience and hearing anecdotal evidence from many colleagues, working in a cubicle where one can constantly hear the conversations of coworkers can be quite stressful and annoying, especially when trying to concentrate on a task that requires a great deal of focus.
Against this backdrop of noise, cubicles and stress, came the increase in personal computers at home when consumer prices on them fell low enough that the average worker could have one or more computers at home. It was easy to put a few files on a disk, take the disk home, and work on a project from home. With broadband internet connections now widely available, it has also become relatively easy for companies to set up remote worker access to company resources through use of VPNs (virtual private networks), which enable a worker at home to access their company’s computer system in a secure way, so that no confidential information would be at risk. In addition, some workers who could not or would not relocate physically to be near to a company’s offices could then work as fulltime telecommuters. With this overall change in the way people can work in an office and from home, in the 21st century telecommuting is now fairly common but not yet the norm.
So far there are relatively few telecommuters in comparison to the overall labor population, but at the same time telecommuting is being offered by companies that workers perceive to be better employers. According to Thompson, slightly less than three million Americans are telecommuters but a large percentage of companies ranked in the top 100 best companies to work for offer telecommuting as an option for at least some workers. Thompson also notes that “telecommuting soared 61 percent between 2005 and 2009, and based on current trends regular telecommuters will total 4.9 million by 2016, a 69 percent increase.” Most likely, companies offer telecommuting for a variety of reasons, such as giving employees more flexibility in their schedule so they can meet family demands. Other reasons include reducing office expenses associated with larger physical offices and using telecommuting as a way to keep workers happier. Telecommuting is used by various types of organizations. As summarized by Thompson, currently, private for-profits account for 76 percent of telecommuters; local, state and federal governments account for 14 percent; and private nonprofits make up the remaining 10 percent. So it appears that telecommuting is offered by better perceived companies and across both private and public sector companies; it is not confined to only one or two industries. That diversity suggests that telecommuting is a viable option in many types of workplaces, and companies that are highly regarded see its benefits.
For people who prefer to work in an office, it may be difficult to understand the appeal of telecommuting. For those who prefer telecommuting, however, the benefits are easy to see. There is no commute to work; one simply walks into the home office area. Because there is no commute, the employee saves time, money, and the stress of commuting in rush hour traffic. There is no hassle of packing a lunch or the expense of buying a lunch at a cafeteria or fast food establishment. There is no office dress code in place, although some telecommuters prefer to dress as if they were at the office. Telecommuters can listen to music they prefer, and at their preferred volume, instead of worrying that colleagues can hear the songs they are playing on their iPods. There is never the necessary trek to a different bathroom because the cleaning crew is busy in the closest bathroom. Perhaps most importantly for productivity, telecommuters are not held hostage by the office social butterflies who barge into their cubicles and chat for 15 minutes about trivia while the employee is desperately trying to write a report.
Additional surveys have yielded some interesting data about telecommuting. According to the Teamviewer survey, “Fully half (50%) of telecommuters feel that they are more productive working from home, with 23% even saying that they are much more productive.” Telecommuters cited saving travel time and the cost of gasoline as additional benefits. Other benefits listed by the surveys participants included items to be expected, such as a better balance between their work and life, reduced stress, ability to do some light housework, and being removed from office gossip. Telecommuters also like the ability to wear more casual dress, which reduces their expenses by cutting down on the types of clothes they would wear only to work. As long as telecommuters have access to the files and software needed to perform their jobs and they can participate in meetings as if they were in the physical office, they can perform effectively while telecommuting. Telecommuters perceive and experience many benefits from telecommuting.
One additional benefit that has not yet received much attention is health. As noted by Schurr, 67% of companies that offer telecommuting report they experienced increased productivity and lower office costs of supplies and materials. Another benefit to employers is the ability to hire from a more geographically diverse population, so that potential employees who might not be willing to relocate physically would be willing to work remotely. To meet the demands of telecommuting workers, organizations have to expend a certain amount of money and energy, including establishing or improving their VPN capability, making sure their security systems are adequate, and implementing software for virtual meetings such as WebEx. The payoff for this expenditure is impressive, though. Simply put, workers who telecommute have reduced stress from commuting in rush hour traffic and having to juggle a rush hour commute with making dinner for a family. One could easily infer that a telecommuter will be more likely to prepare a healthy meal for his or her family than someone trapped in a commute home for over an hour, who might easily succumb to the temptation to pick up fast food and other less healthy alternatives. If workers are healthier, they miss fewer days from work and work more productively overall. Employers benefit financially from this better health. In addition, employers increase their human capital’s diversity by being able to hire workers from a more diverse geographical range.
Telecommuting is not simply a U.S. phenomenon, either. Canada is also seeing an increase in telecommuting. As noted by Minsky, Canada’s government has begun encouraging telecommuting as a way to offset the costs of maintaining or upgrading infrastructure, such as highways and bridges. As the trend continues for increased telecommuting on a global basis, many organizations may come to have a global workforce consisting of employees from locations all around the world, instead of a geographically compact group of employees who all reside in one city or in a small group of cities. This type of diversity could easily enhance the ability of corporations to gain insight into the needs of customers worldwide, instead of having insight into only one segment of the global population.
Aside from increased productivity, there are additional benefits to telecommuting. As noted by Small Business Trends, telecommuting can have a positive impact on the environment by eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions of typical commuters:
The average U.S. commute is about 32 miles round-trip about 7,840 miles per year, assuming an employee works five days a week, 49 weeks per year (with 3 weeks of vacation). If the employee drives a standard midsize vehicle -- which typically emits around 0.9 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile -- he or she would emit 29 pounds of carbon per day commuting, adding up to a commuting footprint of about 7,100 pounds of CO2 per year.
Essentially, telecommuting reduces the size of the carbon footprint a company has, because of reduced commuting. Obviously, the more telecommuters stay at home, the less they are on the road contributing to pollution, increasing wear and tear on highways and roads, and contributing to overall traffic congestion. Fewer workers in the office also means a decreased need for large office buildings, reducing the heat those buildings produce and lowering the amount of power needed to heat and cool them.
One should also note that the benefits to telecommuting are not just increased productivity. As noted in one study (Telecommuting Benefits Both), “Telecommuters reported more job satisfaction, less motivation to leave the company, less stress, improved work-family balance, and higher performance ratings by supervisors." The study also contradicted some popular myths about telecommuting. For example, work relationships with managers and colleagues typically did not suffer, and for women, their performance appraisals typically improved and they broadened their career prospects. Perhaps for female workers more than male workers, telecommuting is perceived as a sign of flexibility and the ability to juggle work/life demands more efficiently, so that managers regard them more highly than they did when the same females were working only in the physical office. In any case, the results of the study demonstrate that some of the myths about telecommuting are in fact myths not supported by actual data. It is very easy to assume that if a worker is not physically in the office, then the relationship between team members may not be as good as between team members who are all in the same office. Yet, in many modern offices, team members communicate more by instant messaging than by face-to-face discussions, and in that situation it really makes no difference if the person on the other end of an instant message is five feet away or five hundred miles away.
In addition to increased productivity and improved employee morale, companies can reap additional financial benefits from telecommuting. According to Wilkie and Berdahl, when companies have fewer employees on site, there is not as much of a need for physical office space, reducing their overhead. In addition, many telecommuters use their own computers for work, reducing wear and tear on office computers and again reducing the need for as many computers. Fewer employees on site also means reduced need for cleaning and maintenance crews, reduced need for parking, reduced energy consumption, and so forth.
With the various benefits of telecommuting, one wonders why it is not more prevalent. The answer to that question may be simply because of outdated attitudes. In some organizations and among some executives, middle managers, and workers, there is still the idea that telecommuters are sitting at home in their bunny slippers, drinking coffee, and not really working but being paid. In short, if they cannot see you working, then you are not working. Unfortunately, many people still have the attitude that working at home means not really working and fear that if there is no manager directly observing the employee work, that no work or only limited work will occur. Yet there is this to consider: even in an office, how can a manager ensure that every single employee is in fact working every minute of an assigned work shift? Employees in the office are quite capable of simply pretending to work while staring at their computer screens, taking long breaks, or just procrastinating all while physically in the office. Physical presence in the office is no guarantee of either quantity or quality of work. What seems more efficient is that the metrics used to measure any employee’s productivity should be applied to telecommuters: Do they meet their deadlines? Does the quantity and quality of their work meet expectations?
This is not to say that telecommuting should become the standard for workers. There are some considerations that need to be made. Anyone can figure out easily that telecommuting requires a good deal of self-discipline along with the ability to organize a workspace at home that will enable the telecommuter to work efficiently. Some workers want social interaction, sometimes almost as much as they want to work to get paid, and for this type of “social butterfly” worker, telecommuting is not a good option and one such a worker would probably not pursue. For workers who do telecommute, some face time between workers on an occasional basis can help establish better working relationships and generate ideas.
Overall, though, telecommuting has evolved over the years. As Ye states, “The benefits of telecommuting, both actual and perceived, are well-documented: increased employee productivity, increased quality contact with customers, better work-life balance for employees, reductions in corporate real estate expenses, and reductions in traffic congestion and air pollution” (20). Ye also notes that successful telecommuters must possess certain characteristics, such as discipline, dependability, self-reliance, minimal need for supervision, good organization, and high productivity before beginning telecommuting. Interestingly, the characteristics described as essential for good telecommuters also appear to be characteristics that managers would want in any employee. For example, who would want an employee who was not disciplined, who was not self-reliant, who needed constant supervision, had bad organization, and low productivity? From this analysis, it seems clear that telecommuters do not have to be a special group who has extraordinary needs or abilities. They are not necessarily people who are socially awkward and prefer to work in isolation, although certainly those types of personalities would benefit from telecommuting. Instead, people who are a good fit for telecommuting represent a good model for employees in general: they know what they need to do and how to do it effectively.
In conclusion, telecommuting provides huge benefits to both employees and employers. It allows employees more flexibility to control their workspace. It typically results in greater overall productivity by the employee who telecommutes. It reduces expenses for employers. Simultaneously, it reduces the environmental stress created by commuting to work. Workers who telecommute are generally happier with their work/life balance and happier about their jobs. One need not be a rocket scientist, or in this case an industrial psychologist, to figure out that happier workers are more productive and more creative, enabling the companies for which they work to achieve higher degrees of success. Telecommuting is also an issue that needs consideration not just for today’s workers but for the next generation of employees. As younger generations enter the workforce, some adaptations will naturally occur in how they interact with each other. One only has to look around to see that a typical teenager of today is much more comfortable communicating via texts than via phone or sometimes even talking, even when sitting in the same room with each other. They have “friends” via social media that they have never met in person but with whom they have meaningful relationships. They may well regard telecommuting not as a pleasant perk but as a necessity. Successful companies have always had to adapt to the changing world around them, and in this case, companies will most likely have to increase the use of telecommuting to succeed in the future. Given the many advantages that telecommuting offers, companies who want to become successful or remain successful should recognize those benefits and take advantage of them.
Works Cited
Minsky, Amy. "Telecommuting Benefits Disciplined; Working from Home Growing Trend." The Gazette Jun 06 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2013 .
Schurr, Amy. "Telecommuting Improves Health." Network World (Online) (2008). Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Small Business Trends: What's the Green Benefit of Telecommuting?. Chatham, United States, Chatham: Newstex, 2011. ProQuest Entrepreneurship. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
"TeamViewer Survey: Americans Stress Benefits and Demands of Telecommuting." Business WireDec 05 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2013 .
"Telecommuting Benefits both Employees and Employers." O & P Business News : Linking the Orthotic and Prosthetic Profession 17.3 (2008): 60-1. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Thompson, Kimberly. "Working through Telecommuting." Phi Kappa Phi Forum 92.2 (2012): 23. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Wilkie, Karen and Loleen Berdahl. "Telecommuting Provides Benefits for all Involved." Star - Phoenix: 0. Jul 05 2007. Web. 1 Mar. 2013 .
Ye, Richard. "Telecommuting: Implementation for Success." International Journal of Business and Social Science 3.15 (2012): n/a. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
