I think maybe they were talking to the wrong people.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – One-quarter of the U.S. work force could be doing their jobs from home if all those able to telecommute chose to do so, according to a study on Wednesday which said many still elect to work at the office.
All those people working from home could translate into annual gasoline savings of $3.9 billion, according to the National Technology Readiness Survey.
The study found that 2 percent of U.S. workers telecommute full-time and another 9 percent do so part-time.
But another 14 percent of workers have the option of telecommuting, or have jobs conducive to the practice but choose not to, the study found.
The article goes on to give the usual reasons of schmoozing with the boss and the overwhelming need for water cooler time for this seemingly odd refusal to telecommute.
But there must be more to it than that: A lot of people are unhappy at home due to unruly kids or a termagant wife. Or both. But most likely the termagant wife. For them, the drudgery at the office is a respite from the worse drudgery of being at home.
I also think that those who do choose to work from home tend to alienate those co-workers who are not offered the choice. So it is not so much that they miss the socializing, rather they do not want to be ostracized.
The older I get the more adamant I become about not making a long commute during rush hour if there is no need. I have everything I need and more to telecommute to any location that has a 56k modem and a telephone. What equipment I don’t have and come to need, I acquire. Yet, over the last dozen years since telecommuting has become technologically feasible for even small companies and individuals maybe ten percent of my engagements have allowed for it. That equals about two or three. I haven’t turned down anything within 50 miles yet, but I think it’s coming. My willingness-to-commute-daily limit is about to come down to about thirty-five miles, I think.
That puts downtown Houston about twelve miles outside the limit which would probably force me to change professions. If you can c all computer programming a profession anymore.
For the most part I believe the reluctacne to let the contract workforce toil from the comforts of their own home is because they believe that if managers don’t watch contractor’s like a hawk they might bill for eight hours instead of seven and three quarters. Smoke on your own time.
Lastly, I don’t think this survey applies to those of us who live down here in the wide open spaces:
And with a median one-way commute of 10 miles and a median one-way commute time of 20 minutes, the daily trip for many workers is not that bad, he added.
“People actually prefer to go in, even though they have the option of telecommuting,” he said.
If all I had to do was drive to Richwood to make my money, I guess I wouldn’t bitch either.
