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July 13, 2006
Not so keen on telecommuting, after all?
- One-quarter of the U.S. work force could be doing their jobs from home if all those able to telecommute chose to do so, according to a study on Wednesday which said many still elect to work at the office.
All those people working from home could translate into annual gasoline savings of $3.9 billion, according to the National Technology Readiness Survey.
The study found that 2 percent of U.S. workers telecommute full-time and another 9 percent do so part-time.
But another 14 percent of workers have the option of telecommuting, or have jobs conducive to the practice but choose not to, the study found.
The numbers suggest that many people would rather work at the office even if their job allowed telecommuting, said Professor P.K. Kannan, of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, which sponsored the study with Rockbridge Associates Inc., a Great Falls, Virginia research firm.
"That seems to suggest that even if employers were to say tomorrow that everybody had the option of telecommuting and you would save a lot of gas, that's not going to happen," Kannan said.
Sure, not everyone, perhaps not even most would telecommute if given the option, but that doesn’t mean we should assume workers aren’t interested in it and leave it at that. In most of the top 50 metro areas telecommuting already tops transit commuting and, apart from driving alone, it was the only commute mode to gain market share from 1980 to 2000. The evidence is pretty clear that the practice has continued to grow since 2000.
According to one recent survey, 80 percent of San Diego area folks who don’t telecommute say they would if given the chance. Do I think 80 percent of those surveyed really would telecommute? No way, but it still shows there’s pretty strong interest. And even if only, say, 20 percent really did end up working from home that would still make a big difference.
According to the National Technology Readiness Survey, of those who telecommute, most only do so one, two, or three days a week. But people should only do it as often as they want to, and the more people learn about part week (or even part day) telecommuting, the better.
My hunch is that many managers and employees quickly dismiss the idea because they assume telecommuting is an all-or-nothing choice. Few people will be able to ditch the office entirely, but as more people realize that telecommuting frequency can vary tremendously more will give telecommuting another look and figure out the best way to personalize the process of work.
Article here; thanks to Bobby B. for the tip.
Posted by tedb at July 13, 2006 03:45 PM
I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten31259 at January 22, 2007 02:33 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten18100 at January 24, 2007 04:12 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten11671 at January 26, 2007 07:54 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten10444 at January 26, 2007 03:34 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten3694 at January 26, 2007 09:53 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten25821 at January 26, 2007 10:39 PM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten99512 at January 27, 2007 11:55 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning. My life's been pretty unremarkable these days. Eh.
Comment by: Sten57702 at January 28, 2007 01:27 AM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten72120 at January 28, 2007 04:39 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten82732 at January 28, 2007 08:01 PM
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I feel like a complete blank, but I don't care. Pfft. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten19970 at January 30, 2007 07:46 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten50717 at February 1, 2007 12:23 AM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten73789 at February 1, 2007 03:33 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten23377 at February 1, 2007 08:20 AM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten75727 at February 1, 2007 10:18 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten46040 at February 1, 2007 12:31 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten19563 at February 1, 2007 09:45 PM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten39399 at February 3, 2007 07:39 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten62804 at February 3, 2007 05:03 PM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten85987 at February 4, 2007 12:15 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten51973 at February 4, 2007 02:15 AM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten33260 at February 4, 2007 12:07 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten48702 at February 4, 2007 08:39 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten58150 at February 4, 2007 11:00 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten12427 at February 4, 2007 11:09 PM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten70891 at February 5, 2007 09:56 AM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten99007 at February 5, 2007 10:19 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten77197 at February 5, 2007 04:33 PM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten37749 at February 5, 2007 09:20 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten53571 at February 6, 2007 12:04 AM
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