Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Shortest Commute

Working from home never looked so good, thanks to hurricanes, high gas prices and high stress from long commutes.

Speakers today at the International Telework Association & Council' s annual conference in Arlington will discuss benefits to employers from "distributed work" -- the buzzword for working without regard to location. Among them, the council says: expanding hours of customer service, reducing overhead and increasing the labor pool.

Some companies see a 20 percent productivity gain, improved morale and reduced turnover, according to Chuck Wilsker, president of another work-from-home advocate, the Telework Coalition.

Wilsker figures he saves 2 1/2 hours a day working at home in Rockville instead of on Capitol Hill. Workers also spend less on gas, dry cleaning, lunch and parking -- and gain time for pets (like Wilsker's Italian greyhound), kids or causes.

"You do put in more hours," he said, in part because the commute is so short -- and the only refueling stop is a trip to the fridge.

-- Vickie Elmer