Experts have debated at length the cost/benefit analysis of telework from productivity, security, and work-life standpoints, but one thing is for certain. Rising energy costs and the trickling economy have lead to a nationwide cash crunch. New data suggests that telework can contribute strongly to reducing pollution, energy consumption and overhead costs for companies.
Nearly 40% of all employees are eligible for telework, but a mere 15% actually do, according to the CDW 2008 Telework Report. Other reports suggest that as little as 4% of the nation's workforce works from home.
The upcoming book "Undress4Success: The Naked Truth about Working from Home" estimates that, if telework increased to its full potential, Gulf oil imports could be reduced as much as 80%. This equates to $43 billion dollars at the gas pump, 625 million barrels of oil and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 107 million tons, authors Kate Lister and Tom Harnish estimate.
In the nation's capital, that means 60 hours per person regained each year and a $1,094 per person in savings in travel delay and excess fuel consumption costs each year, shows the Texas Transportation Institute's 2007 Urban Mobility Study. In Los Angeles, the number increases to 72 hours regained and $1,374 saved.
If each person were to telework one day per week, each person would save as many as 1.4 gallons of gas per day, four to six tons of carbon emissions per year and one-third to one-half of a household's yearly energy use, estimates Douglas Johnson of the Consumer Electronics Association.
With more employees working at home and forsaking the daily commute, the nation could see widespread environmental benefits, such as improved air quality, more energy conservation and less land devoted to constructing new office buildings, experts say.
Energy-efficient
Even without a teleworking policy, employers can purchase office technology more effectively. Katherine Kaplan of EnergyStar, the country's leading accreditor of energy-safe products, says that if every home office product purchased had an EnergyStar label, it would save three billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, a $200 million dollar savings.
Effective use of power is also critical, Kaplan says. Each person could save an estimated $25 to $75 per year if they were to set individual computer monitors to sleep mode when not in use, a savings of over $1 billion dollars annually.
Staying secure
New data has also emerged to measure the corporate temperature with regard to major telework concerns.
"[Teleworking] technology exists, and the rules of the game have been written," says Andy Lausch, senior director of federal sales for CDW's government division.
Information technology professionals in government and private-sector jobs listed security as their top concern about telecommuting, with 27% of private-sector IT workers indicating it as their most pressing challenge, down eight percentage points from 2007, according to the CDW 2008 telework report.
However, a recent telework conference in Washington, D.C., revealed that many of the nation's most secure organizations, including the Department of Defense, are embracing telework. At the Patent and Trade Office, based in Alexandria, Va., more than 90% of workers telecommute.
Technological concerns
Continuity of business operations during an emergency is another advantage that teleworking can bring. Slightly less than half (46%) of private-sector employees could continue working in the event of a storm or other natural disaster this year, up 13 percentage points from the 2007 CDW survey.
Meanwhile, more than three-fourths of employers provide technological support to teleworking employees, up 27 percentage points over 2007, the study found. The majority of employers provide telephonic support, but significant numbers of employers also allow for remote-fix and online support mechanisms as well.
"The benefits of telework are clear," says Cindy Auten, general manager for the Telework Exchange, a telework advocacy group. "Considering the multiple factors and mandates driving telework ... there is increasing support for agencies to break out telework as a line item in their IT as well as personnel and training budgets."
In fact, 68% of respondents to Telework Exchange's 2008 survey stated that teleworkers were taken into consideration when purchasing technological equipment for the workplace.
No fuzzy slippers
Productivity is the second-highest concern of professionals when it comes to teleworking, with 15% of employers citing it as their most pressing concern, the CDW study states.
Stating that "fuzzy slippers are a myth," Lausch debunked the old stereotype of a teleworker in pajamas in front of the TV. New studies indicate that upward of 90% of teleworking employees state that they are as productive or more productive when teleworking than they are in the office.
"Those of us who telework as well, especially in management roles, know our own productivity," Lausch says. "The old myth of I see them at their desk; they must be working,' doesn't apply anymore."
Among the 14% of private sector employees who report teleworking via the CDW study, it appears that many different options are possible. Thirty percent work fulltime from home, and 30% work from home either one or two days per week. Minimal numbers of employees work from home during adverse weather or when caring for sick family members (4%).
Best practices
Experts recommend having written teleworking policies in place and implementing strategic metrics to track productivity of teleworkers.
Two-thirds of companies have a written policy in place, according to the CDW survey.
Nevertheless, roughly 25% of employees are unsure about whether their company permits them to telework.
Meanwhile, signs point to an increasing adoption of teleworking. In fact, telework budgets are expected to increase significantly, between 15% and 17%, in coming years, states the Federal Telework Investment Roadmap study.
