3 Comments to 'You. Must. Telecommute.'
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You. Must. Telecommute.
Posted By katie allison granju
Interesting.
The House just passed legislation requiring all federal agencies to allow their employees to telecommute from home at least 20% of the time. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate.
I think telecommuting is a great idea for a lot of people who are currently prevented from doing it by employers with control issues. Obviously, some jobs do require one’s actual presence in a particular place at a particular time, but for those that are more about work product than physical presence, telecommuting is a great idea.
I wonder whether more private employers will begin offering this option as a way to offset gas prices for their employees? It’s a great way to offer a “raise” without the employer spending a penny.
Jun 4th, 2008
I am one of those rare people who telecommutes full-time. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
I’d love it if I could telecommute more to help save a bit of money on gas. The spouse and I carpool since we work in the same building, but it’d be nice to work from home every now and then.
Well. it is not as rare as you might imagine. A lot of it depends on what you do for a living. For example, if you are Bank Teller, telecommuting is not much of an option.
However, if you are a consultant, research scientist, writer, editor, medical records specialist, etc., there is almost no work that you cannot do at home as long as you have a telephone, fax machine, computer, e-mail, and Internet access. It also helps to have a scanner and copier, although I am not quite there yet. Ocassionally, you have to do some travel to meet with a client, and it is handy to have a relationship with a close-by “Kinkos-Like” shop and a mailing station with FEDEX.
Before beginning my telecommuting gig nearly 3 years ago, I worked in a large office in Knoxville that does work in my field. It was not at all unusual there to see a sign on a door that said “Gone Home to Work.” It was an office with about 300 people where fellow employees are in constant contact. Heads peeped in and out of offices every few minutes. If you had a task that really required some substantial time and uninterrupted concentration, going home to work actually did the company a big favor. I do not know of a single case where going home to work did not benefit the company. It usually resulted in better quality work, more timely work, and longer work hours spent concentrating on the job—hours that would have been wasted behind a steering wheel.
Also, do not fall into the trap of thinking that working at home is reserved for low paying jobs like stuffing envelopes. I make $70,000 + a full benefits package, including 401K, pension, and large quarterly cash bonuses for well done work.