YOU CAN TAKE IT WITH YOU

American Demographics, Feb 1, 2002

An estimated 28.8 million Americans - one-fifth of the adult working population - worked from home, on the road, at a telework center or at a satellite office at least one day a week in 2001, up 17 percent from 2000. Of those who work away from the conventional office, the vast majority say they are highly satisfied with their jobs, more productive and exceptionally loyal to their employer, according to an AT & T sponsored survey released in October 2001 by the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC).

The nationally representative telephone survey of 1,170 adults, conducted between July 30-Sept. 10, 2001, found that 70 percent of those who worked away from the office say they are quite satisfied or very satisfied with their job, and a full 80 percent are also quite or very committed to their organization. (The survey does not provide comparable satisfaction or commitment figures for non-telecommuters.) Telecommuting leads to increased productivity, or at least the perception of it, according to the report. Of telecommuters who work at home, 72 percent feel they are more productive than when they work on-site. Considerable shares of telecommuters working in satellite offices (67 percent), on the road (42 percent) and in telework centers (37 percent) also feel they are more industrious away from the office.

Slicing up the telecommuting group, the study shows that most telecommuters do their work solely from the road (24 percent) or from home (22 percent), while just 8 percent do all of their work at telework centers and 4 percent at satellite offices. Four out of 10 (42 percent) say they combine multiple forms of telecommuting to get their work done. Those who do their jobs solely from their homes, work an average 3.6 days, or 28.6 hours a week from home. Those who work at telework centers, satellite offices or on the road spend more time on the job, with each averaging over four days, or 30 hours a week.

Demographically, ITAC found that telecommuters are more likely than non-telecommuters to be male, live in the Northeast and West, have a higher level of education and income, work in professional or managerial occupations and be employed by smaller than average or larger than average organizations. There were no significant differences found between telecommuters and non-telecommuters when it came to race and ethnicity, age or marital status.

Many of those who drag themselves to the office day-in and day-out envy their absent co-workers. About 14.5 million Americans who do not currently telecommute say they would like to give it a go, according to the study. However, most of these workers do not think their employer would allow them to do so, either because of a lack of trust or a resistance to new ideas. Many also acknowledge that their jobs are just not suitable for telecommuting.

For more information, contact the International Telework Association and Council at (202) 547-6157 or visit www.telecommute.org.

KEEPING AN EVEN BALANCE

Most telecommuters (59 percent) say they work longer hours than they would if they worked solely in an office, but the majority (61 percent) still think their home work doesn't interferes with their personal lives.