Experts once predicted that telecommuting would be the norm by the early 21st century, but employer mistrust of unmonitored workers is delaying the dreams of American employees, 80% of whom would like to work from home, according to recent survey data from WorldatWork.

Though the number of workers who call home their primary workplace jumped by over 60 percent from 2005-2009, says Telework Research Network, this translates to only 2.8 million employees.

However, that figure does not include home-based businesses, which accounted for another 3.1 million workers in 2008, or employees who worked from home at least one day a week, which accounts for another 20-30 million workers.

I’ve been primarily a teleworker for many years, with the exception of the year and a half it took me to convince a state magazine to let me leave their expensive office and work from mine, which was considerably more sophisticated anyway. In fact, that sophistication – dual monitors, multiple computers, even a much better desk chair, helped convince management to let me return to my home office. Within weeks, my supervisor noted productivity increases.

I still work from that home office turning out the TechJournal. In our digital era, it seems counter-productive to have a writer, editor, or any number of other communications and technology workers take up company office space.

With social media, teleworkers even have their own verion of the water cooler and lunch conversation nowadays. But it can still be a challenge to convince managers that it is the best option, increases productivity, and saves money, energy, and the environment.

Typical teleworker described

“Part-time teleworkers include millions of mobile workers (“road warriors”) who charge a lot of business expenses to their credit cards,” said Charles Tran, founder of CreditDonkey.com, a consumer credit card comparison and education site that today published an infographic tracking telecommuting trends. “What’s more, 10.3 percent of small business owners use credit cards to help finance their start-ups.”

Tran noted that the typical teleworker is a college-educated 35- to 54-year-old, non-union employee working in telecommuting-compatible professions such as accounting, graphic design, engineering, computer programming, journalism/copywriting, administrative support or customer service. At least 40% of the U.S. workforce (52 million people) holds telework-compatible jobs.

According to research compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau and Telework Research Network, among the potential benefits of telework:
Nearly 6 million people considered their home their principal place of work. Of which, 53% were home-based business.

Half-time telecommuting

Half-time telecommuting (2.4 days per week) would reduce current U.S. imports of Gulf oil by 45 percent annually, saving $22 billion.
If all Americans with telework-compatible jobs worked from home half-time, it could prevent 95,000 traffic-related injuries and deaths each year.
Companies would save $525 to $665 billion per year, thanks to reduced real estate, turnover and absenteeism costs, as well as increased employee productivity.

More than 66 percent of companies that permit telecommuting have reported increased productivity among teleworkers.
“Despite the bottom-line benefits, it’s mostly the larger companies (those with 100+ employees) that are hopping on the telework bandwagon,” says Tran. “In the long term, it’s inevitable that many more jobs will be done at home, but in the near term, the spirit is willing, but employer trust is weak.”

Comments by TechJournal Editor Allan Maurer

A new infographic from CreditDonkey.com poses the question “Could You Be a Teleworker?” and reveals telecommuting trends. If you find this hard to read try this version: http://www.creditdonkey.com/telecommuting.html

Courtesy of: CreditDonkey