Telecommuting:

Close your eyes and picture this scenario: You’re driving to work in your car, maybe you stopped by Dunkin’ or Starbucks and picked up a nice, large iced coffee to treat yourself since it’s Monday and you need something to combat the Monday blues. You’re driving along on your normal route, obviously taking the back roads because you know I-83 is always backed up in the morning. You look at the clock in your car, 8:15, you still have 15 minutes to spare and you’re a few miles away from the office. Everything’s going good, until you get to the railroad crossing. You were unlucky enough to arrive right when the train passes by and holds up traffic. Obviously, you grunt in annoyance and wait. The train passes and the crossing gate rises. You look at the clock in your car, 8:17, you’re still in good shape. You accelerate your car and keep driving and then all of a sudden, BAM! The two cars in front of you get into a fender bender. You signal to the cars behind you, but they won’t let you over. You start to quietly say expletives while you wait for the line of cars to drive by; it’s a long line of cars. They finally pass and change lanes. You look at the clock in your car, it’s 8:25. You start to get a bit nervous since you’re cutting it close and your boss is very punctual. You keep driving along until you hear, POP! You look around your car with a puzzled look until you notice that your front right tire “feels” weird and your car starts leaning to the right. You pull over to the side of the road and get out of your car to check out what’s wrong; you got a flat tire. You start frantically yelling expletives and call for AAA to come fix your tire, since you don’t know how to fix one yourself. While they fix your tire, your boss calls. You pick up and he starts freaking out at you for not being at the office on time. You explain the situation to him while the mechanic finishes the repair. The mechanic leaves, you pay the repair bill, then get back in your car and look at the clock, 8:35. You’re late for work. To make matters worse, you spilled your coffee on your brand new, custom Under Armour polo that you were super excited to show everyone at the office. If only your employer allowed you the option to work from the comfort and safety of your home; about 90% of everything that went wrong could have been avoided. This scenario leads us to the million dollar question that I’m sure is on your mind: Should all employers allow their employees the option to work from home on a permanent basis?

Telecommuting—also known as working from home (WFH), working remotely, or e-commuting—is a work arrangement in which the employee works outside the office. There are a number of employers in the United States that have the resources necessary to allow their employees the capability to work remotely, but they choose to limit that option to a minimum or they choose not to offer that option at all. Every employer who is opposed to the idea of working remotely has their different reasons, anywhere from avoiding potential distractions to preserving the traditional office workplace setting. However, nowadays both employees and employers alike have had to change the way they complete their work and run their business respectively. Take the current COVID-19 outbreak as an example. The global pandemic has upended working life for vast portions of the professional world, forcing millions of people to quickly adapt to remote work and fresh challenges of all kinds. Despite the dire circumstances, this crisis may help us see how work can change for the better. Employers may embrace the benefits of flexible, remote work. Business leaders may become more adept at quickly shifting strategic gears to adapt to new circumstances. And now that our coworkers have gained a glimpse into our personal lives via video meetings, we may grow more comfortable showing more of ourselves at work.

One of the biggest complaints that employees have when it comes to their job, no matter what field they work in or what position they hold, is the fact that they have to leave the comfort of their own home in order to go to work. In fact, a survey conducted by human resources consulting firm Robert Half found that 23% of workers in the United States alone have quit a job because of a bad commute. Some workers are fortunate enough to have a relatively short commute while several other workers must endure a long and challenging commute. In the U.S., the average, one-way commute time is 26.1 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, there are a number of several states, particularly ones with high volume cities, in the U.S. that have much higher commute times such as Maryland (30.7 minutes), New York (35 minutes), and Washington D.C. (43.6 minutes). Commuting contributes to the inflation of expenses of our already expensive cost of living. Adults in the United States are spending thousands of dollars on transportation every year. Depending on the state, Americans spend as much as $5,000 per year on their daily commutes - including gas, maintenance costs, public transportation, and other expenses. By allowing employees to work from home, employers can minimize or even eliminate that expense that burdens their employees’ budgets. Not to mention that employers are helping save the planet. Just by commuting 10 miles, one way, Americans produce between 1.4 and 3.8 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, depending on the type and the size of the vehicle. Employers eliminating the need to commute to work helps contribute to the decrease in carbon dioxide emissions.

Spending time commuting to work also relinquishes another valuable commodity; time. Let’s take the 26.1 minute commute that was mentioned earlier. If you commute to a full-time, 5-day-a-week job, round trip that adds up to 4.35 hours a week and over 200 hours (nearly nine days) per year. That 200 hours that you’re wasting just to drive to work could be time that you could be using towards other things such as sleeping in, going to the gym or spending time with your family. Permitting employees to work from home allows them to use this extra time the way they see fit to contribute to a better work-life balance, which in turn, leads to higher productivity during the workday. Researchers found that employees who work remotely raised revenue, increased productivity, and boosted their local economy.

Research has also found that commuting to work takes a toll on our overall health and well being. One study found that those who commuted for over an hour were 33% more likely to suffer from depression and 21% more likely to be obese than those whose journeys to work took them half an hour or less. This not only directly affects the employee, but also the employer. The increasing rates of depression among workers leads to low morale and a higher rate of turnover while the increasing rates of obesity lead to lower productivity and higher health insurance costs. Both scenarios cause the companies to lose money. By giving employees the option to work from home, they can contribute to the health and well being of their workers while also saving money.

Employees who have children have increasingly expressed the want and, in some cases, need of having the ability to work from home. This is no surprise as the cost of childcare is not cheap and is not getting any less expensive. The cost of child care can range anywhere from $199 per day all the way up to $596 per day. In fact, more than 40% of families spend more than 15% of household income on care. Providing food and clothing for a child is already very expensive, but the cost is even higher when you factor in the cost of child care. Employers allowing their employees to work from home not only allows them to save money on child care, but also gives the workers the ability to care for their child at home while also doing their job.

As you can clearly see, there are a number of benefits that are provided to both employees and employers when workers are given the option to work from home. Employees save on two of their most valuable commodities, time and money, and they are given the opportunity to work from the comfort of their homes. That being said, there are the possibilities of issues arising when this option is presented to employees.

Working from home effectively takes an extreme amount of self-discipline. You have to be extremely self-motivated or else you may get distracted easily. Fine for self-starters and responsible folks; not so great for junior and/or unproven teammates. For example, if you have children and are telecommuting, you may be saving money by working from home and caring for your children, but you also need to realize that you are on the clock and have a job that needs to be done. You need to balance the amount of time you spend doing your job and caring for your children. A task that would take one hour in an office could take five hours with distractions. The last thing you want is to have your boss calling you, while you’re feeding or playing with your children, saying that the report that needed to be completed hasn’t been received yet.

One of the concerns that employers have with allowing employees to work from home is the worry that they will not actually be working when they are on the clock. Remote teams require more micromanagement to ensure they are on the right track. Since the employees are not physically present in the eyes of the employers, they cannot monitor if they are actually doing their jobs. In other words, they may have clocked in and started “working”, but they aren’t actually doing their work. In order to work effectively, there has to be a high level of trust between the employer and the employee and the employees need to hold themselves accountable for the quality of work that gets done.

Like an alcoholic in an open bar, a “workaholic” in a telecommuting environment is a recipe for disaster. Working all those extra hours takes a toll on your overall health. By contributing more of your time at home to working remotely, your body is awake more often than it is used to which leads to less sleep. Poor sleep leads to poor mood, but that’s not all. It decreases productivity while increasing your risk for chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Your back and neck can suffer from working too much as well. A study in the Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal found that the more hours people worked, the greater their risk for back pain. Logging all of those extra hours also takes a toll on your mental health as well. One study found that workers who logged 11 hours per day were more likely to battle depression than those who worked seven to eight hours.

By allowing employees to work from home, you eliminate the office setting which in turn can remove the culture of the organization as well as the relationship building opportunities that are involved. Working all day without access to coworkers and colleagues can be very isolating and lonely. On days when it is slow, you’re just there, by yourself, with your thoughts which can contribute to an increased risk of depression. Without the traditional setting of the office and the lack of in-person face-to-face conversation, it requires more effort to form relationships with coworkers. It's hard to establish trust and develop relationships with colleagues and clients when you don't have a daily face-to-face connection. Employers could prevent this issue from arising by creating a healthy mix of some time or days spent in the office while the rest of the time is spent working from home. For example, employees could come in and work at the office when there are team bonding activities going on and then the rest of the days could be spent working from home.

After thorough research as well as personal experience with telecommuting, I can confidently say that I am in favor of the idea of employers allowing employees to work from home. The overall benefits that are provided when given the option to work from home far outweigh the possible consequences that occur. Currently, I have been working from home since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the outcome has been nothing short but positive. That being said, I do understand where those who are opposed to the idea are coming from. Employees need to be determined and driven in order to meet deadlines while working from home. You may be at home, but when you’re on the clock, you need to get the work done. There is the possibility that some employees may not be able to adapt to the remote work environment and may need further support or training in order to succeed.

Whether you are in favor of or are opposed to the idea of working from home, the fact of the matter is it is the future of work. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a part of our everyday lives, it has shown employers that our professional, white collar jobs that we were once told could not be done remotely can in fact be done remotely. With the proper training, resources, and leadership, the opportunities for employees to work remotely will only continue to expand. While there is the possibility of drawbacks occurring during the transition to this new, everyday working environment, both employers and employees alike can cooperate in order to mitigate the risk of consequences, effectively overcome any encountered obstacles and accomplish the attainable goals at hand.

Citations

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What are the pros and cons of working remotely? (2019). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmIW-qLSILQ