Rising gasoline prices are forcing more employers to consider offering telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements.
About 61% of hiring managers reported their organization is "extremely" or "very" concerned about the impact of rising gas prices and commuting costs for employees, according to Select International, a Pittsburgh-based recruitment firm.
"People are concerned that it's too expensive to come to work," remarks John Challenger, workplace analyst and CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Companies need to come up with alternative solutions to make life easier."
High gas prices could affect recruitment – a trend reflected by the 2006 Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations Report, released by Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com. Surveying more than 1,000 hiring managers, the report found that 48% feel rising energy costs will restrict their pool of available candidates or affect their ability to recruit employees in the next 12 months.
"It is very common for hiring mangers to be very focused in finding candidates who are extremely local," notes Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com. "It used to be, if you are job hunting, it was first the position and the location second." Now, Haefner says, the situation is reversed, and workers are looking for opportunities closer to home in an effort to improve their work-life balance.
Telecommuting could provide some fuel cost relief to workers. Working from home just one day a week reduces an employee's fuel consumption by 20%, according to the International Telework Association and Council.
