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The
Telework Revolution Has Begun
As technology
advances, employers and employees are recognizing the many
benefits of telework programs. A 2002 Telework Study on the
number and frequency of people in Los Angeles, Orange, San
Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, and Imperial counties who
work from home (referred to as teleworking) instead of commuting
to an employer site, was conducted by the Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG) to assist in regional transportation
and air quality planning. The Telework Study was conducted
as part of a national demonstration project to examine the
potential for emissions credits trading based on teleworking.
The SCAG region was among several other large metropolitan
regions in the country participating in this program that
was created by the National Telecommuting and Air Quality
Act. The purpose of the demonstration program (as stated in
the SCAG Telework Study, Final Report Executive Study) is
to "increase teleworking by employees throughout the
region and thereby reduce emissions and congestion."
As teleworking increases Companies, employees and communities
all share in the rewards.
The
following are excerpts from SCAG's 2002 TELEWORK STUDY - FINAL
REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - KEY FINDINGS:
Of the
total survey population (5,028 respondents), 55 percent are
workers. The remaining 45 percent of the respondents are classified
as unemployed or outside the labor force (e.g., retired, homemaker,
student). The employed respondents fall into one of three
categories:
Teleworkers:
Employed individuals who work from home some of the time instead
of traveling to work (10 percent).
Findings:
Teleworkers in general tend to be male, older, White (non-Hispanic),
more educated, have higher incomes, and be members of smaller
households. The most common site for teleworkers to work is
at home or at the regular office. When teleworkers do travel
to their regular place of work, their usual means of transportation
is driving alone to work, driving a little under 20 miles,
for a commute that takes over 30 minutes in each direction.
Of all
teleworkers, a little over 18 percent work in retail trade
or finance industry and about 14 percent report sales as their
primary occupation.
The daily
rate of teleworking is about 3.2 percent, that is, on average
3.2 percent of all workers including homebased business owners
on any given day work exclusively at home rather than drive
to their place of emplacement.
The total
number of miles saved by these teleworkers in one week is
estimated to be approximately 45 million miles.
Homebased
business owners: Individuals who operate a home business
(6 percent).
Findings:
As expected, the vast majority of homebased business owners
work at home, although some do work at an employer's or client's
site. When they commute, the principle mode is driving alone
to work with commuting distance and time similar to those
of the teleworkers.
Employee
non-teleworkers: Employed individuals who never work from
home in lieu of traveling to work (84 percent).
Findings:
The vast majority of employee non-teleworkers indicated that
the nature of their work would not allow them to telework,
event though 52 percent of these individuals would like to
work some days at home. Furthermore, almost 80 percent of
the employee non-teleworkers state that their employers would
not give permission to work at home.
Of those
who would like to work at home, 21 percent believe their employer
would give them permission to do so. Of those who do not have
any desire to work at home, seven percent think that their
employer would give them permission to telework. Generally,
employee non-teleworkers have the equipment, such as computers
and Internet service to work at home.
Employee
non-teleworkers perceive the most important advantages of
teleworking as: not having to deal with traffic, helping the
environment and reducing pollution, having more flexibility
in their schedule, and reducing stress.
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