Telecommuting: Advantages for Employers

Alternative Work Arrangements

How can employees benefit from alternative work arrangements? Employees can certainly benefit when the employer encourages telecommuting. Working at home means the employee doesn't have to burn fossil fuel to get to work, which saves money and wear and tear on the automobile. Being a telecommuter means the employee can save on laundry bills (no need to wear a pressed shirt or dress pants), and if the employee is a mother with a child at home, she likely can save child care costs by working at home but keeping an eye on her child in the meantime.

Young people -- especially those in Generation X and Generation Y -- are not locked into work consciousness like their parents and grandparents were.; They are happy to have more time off to be able have fun, travel, engage in outdoor activities and hang out with their friends. And flexibility helps older people because they "…continue to be subject to obstacles to phased retirement" because of pension issues, healthcare and "organizational inflexibility" (Siegenthaler, 2000).

What are some of the possible negative outcomes with alternative work arrangements (for employees and employers)? First of all, it is impossible or at least very difficult for a manager to monitor a worker that is at home and not in his or her cubicle. How can an employer evaluate a person fully when that person is not in the office? Of course the work has to get done, but the employer might wonder if it took more time than it should have because the employee was working at home and perhaps taking too many breaks. For the worker there is a potential downside too: some people enjoy interacting with others in the workplace, not necessarily on a strictly social level, but they like being around others. Also, some people want a set schedule so they know exactly where they need to be when they need to be there. If their job sharing job means they are there off other Tuesday and Thursday, for some people that is not easy to adjust to week by week.

What factors are influencing employers to consider alternative work arrangements? For the employer, the high cost of heating a building, of providing electricity for all employees, has gone up. Fewer workers in the building saves money. For employees, the high cost of gasoline has made it reasonable to stay at home and not use the auto. The housing market has been tough; gas is expensive, so rather than have to move to a new location or drive a car to work, telecommuting makes economic sense. Global climate change means that all citizens and businesses should use less fossil fuel and keep carbon footprints to a minimum whenever possible. Flexible scheduling means an employee can "…compress 40 hours into four days, starting and ending workdays at different times…" (Schmitt, 2009). The employer also knows that some parents want to arrive at work later so they can "take their children to school" (Schmitt, 2009).