Send Your Workers Home—Please?

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1999 by Jeffery D. Zbar

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS picture? Virginia's I-66 Dulles Corridor is home to America Online, Cable & Wireless, AT&T, MCI Worldcom, and PSInet--Internet and telecommunications giants whose services form the backbone that help make at-home work possible. It's also among the most congested regions in the country in terms of commuter traffic and smog.

"Any weekday morning, you can see the traffic back up along the Dulles Toll Road with high-tech buildings dotting the landscape along the corridor," says U.S. Representative Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), whose district includes the corridor.

In response, this past July Wolf introduced the National Telecommuting and Air Quality Act, providing pollution credits and other financial incentives to companies in traffic-congested cities that let their employees work from home. The Senate has a similar bill pending.

Several states are also launching similar plans for enticing employers to launch telework programs. For instance, Maryland this year created Telework Partnership with Employers, a program that will fund $600,000 in consulting and focus group services for companies in the greater Washington and Baltimore areas. Companies won't receive cash or tax breaks, says Gil Weidenfeld, program coordinator for the Maryland Department of Transportation, but "will save money, reduce air pollution and congestion, and have a lot of happy campers" under the plan.

In an effort to curb sprawl in Atlanta, Georgia recently created the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), which is working with the state's environmental protection division and large employers to curb traffic over the next four years. GRTA will team with Partnership for a Smog-Free Georgia to educate employers about air quality and transportation alternatives. "Teleworking is a major part of their program," says Frank Boyd, a board member of the Metro Atlanta Telecommuting Advisory Council.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, and Washington have teamed up under the umbrella Telework Collaborative, consisting of telework program directors who consult with public and private managers to accept and implement telecommuting plans, according to California program consultant David Fleming.

Experts are mixed on the effectiveness of such programs, however: Historically, financial enticements for telecommuting haven't always drawn strong responses. In 1992, for example, Oregon passed a 35 percent state tax credit for employers purchasing telework equipment, but to date only 45 companies have been approved for the program, says Kathy King, transportation program manager with the Oregon Office of Energy.

Why so few? According to King, 54 percent of Oregon households have computers, so some companies don't feel the need to purchase additional hardware--regardless of the tax incentive. Instead, King recommends steering any tax breaks to employees--many of whom outfit their own home offices for teleworking--as well as convincing employers to buy laptops to be shared among teleworkers, she adds. "It's just a smart use of equipment."

Any successful move to teleworking boils down to the employer's commitment, not just dollar incentives, says Gil Gordon, a telework consultant based in Monmouth Junction, N.J. "In order to be meaningful and significantly change corporate behavior, financial incentives would cost too much and likely wouldn't garner the votes needed to pass," he says. "When done well, telecommuting has enough built-in financial payoffs for employers that they shouldn't need to be bribed into doing it."