Even new technologies, such as smart phones and high-speed internet access, which make staying connected a nonissue, have not managed to quell the debate over telecommuting verses working in a traditional office. Recently, a survey commissioned by Microsoft Corp. and conducted by 7th Sense Research set out to examine several key points of the concept by polling 3,600 employees in 36 cities across the country. (Image courtesy of: http://bit.ly/dr1p6p)Over 70% of survey respondents reported that they “were more productive when working from home.” Some common support respondents offered for their position that they have “fewer distractions” at home, the “home atmosphere is quieter,” and that there is a “lower stress level” at home. This positive outlook on telecommuting meshed with a 2008 survey conducted by Telework, which found that almost 40% of respondents said they would be willing to accept a “maximum 10% pay cut to work from home.”
In Microsoft’s survey, proponents of working from home cited “achieving work/home balance, saving on gasoline, and avoiding long commutes” as key reasons why they support the concept. Of all the places to work while outside of the office, family vacation spots ranked number one. Coffee shops and doctor’s offices where also popular work locations. The fact that nearly 10% of respondents reported working at home from bathrooms was mildly disconcerting.
Despite the fact that many workers embrace working from home in hopes of improving their work/life balance, several professionals caution that this may not be the outcome. Jayne Nanavaty-Dahl, manager of IBM Corporations’ group for work-at-home employees, stressed how easy it is for telecommuters to end up spending more time on work-related activities when not on the clock. “We make sure our employees know that at the end of their scheduled work day, they can stop working,” Nanavaty-Dahl explained.
Although the survey showed that support for working from home was strong, just under 60% of respondents reported that their company does not have “a formal policy permitting them to work remotely.” Furthermore, of the employees that do have the opportunity to work from home, only a third reported actually doing so. A common reason respondents cited for not telecommuting was the decrease in “face-to-face interaction with colleagues.”
“Being there in person, that's how relationships are established,” Leslie Truex, author of The Work at Home Success Bible, explained. “Sometimes if those relationships lapse, you are not being effective, or productive, anymore.”
Taking an opposing viewpoint, Marty Cassidy, an executive monitoring
Microsoft’s New England operations, expressed that interacting with telecommuters used to be a considerable problem, but that today that is not the case due to improvements in technology. “Collaboration, when you’re remote, is much more as if you were physically present,” Cassidy expressed. (Image courtesy of: http://bit.ly/9dB9EX)Out of all the cities in which Microsoft’s survey was conducted, Boston, MA reported the highest number of telecommuters. Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia ranked second and third, respectively, in regards to number of telecommuters.
With prominent individuals speaking out on both sides of the telecommute vs. traditional worker debate, it is hard to accept any viewpoint as correct. Realistically, an all or nothing approach to telecommuting will probably never be realized. Telecommuting will most likely coexist with traditional employment and be implemented on a case-by-case basis when mutually beneficial for companies and workers.
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