Problem: Oil Crisis. Partial Solution: Telecommuting.

[suziedemocrat]

Now that everyone is concerned about the high cost of oil - why doesn't the government offer incentives to employers to let people work from home? When you think of all the expense for people to drive to and from work ...... I could easily do my job from home. It seems like it would help to me. And maybe we could avoid building a few new highways?

[cdsilv]

1. I work from home - have since Aug '04....

..I'm in sales - I'm the systems engineer part of a 2 person sales team (one salesrep, one SE) for a computer reseller.

I do travel about 6-10 days a month, so the driving probably averages out w/commuting, but my drives are generally at a minimum, 100-200 miles to go see customers.

[MADem]

2. I have a relative who does it

Works out well, the boss is two thousand miles away and they've never laid eyes on each other. It's all phone conferences and emails. More gets done in less time, too, and there's savings to be had by not having to buy a shitload of work clothes, too!

[phantom power]

3. As a professional telecommuter, with 10 years of experience...

I've learned that

1) Telecommuting works well for anybody whose primary product is information. Software, documents, presentations, etc. And if your need for direct interaction with other people or objects is relatively small.

2) Telecommuting does not work if you must interact face-to-face on a very regular basis. It doesn't work if you work in a factory, or a laboratory. Or a classroom. Or in landscaping. Or as a truck-driver. Or in retail. Or in food-service.

I think there is a rather small percentage of people who can telecommute full time. There is probably a larger percentage of people who could do it once or twice a week. Somebody should do this study, but off the top of my head I bet that 75% of working people can't telecommute at all.

[suziedemocrat]

7. But I bet Telecommuting could save more fuel than is in ANWR!

I could easily telecommute as a programmer, but it's only allowed in special circumstances in my company. I'd like to work at home and maybe spend one day a week in the office for meetings and face-time.

[phantom power]

14. I think more people should do it. And more people are...

I see more and more people embracing the idea. The more people who do it successfully, the easier it is to convince the remainder that it works. That, combined with fuel prices, and the time wasted in long commutes, will accelerate the process.

[TAPat]

4. Seems to me that only VERY progressive

employers are willing (even with $$$ incentives) to allow telework. It takes special people to have the gumption to work when no one is watching them and many employers are small business/service industry types these days - no way they are going to let their employees work from home when they have the NEED to lord over their peons all day
force them to listen to Rush
force them to listen to their "Dead or Alive" & "Right to Life" rhetoric
I've been there and done that :)

That said, I agree with you 100% and wish that it could be so...

[DavidMS]

5. Keep in mind that supporting telecommuters is not easy

I work as a contractor for a major newspaper and I support the non-news gathering parts of the operation (accounting, HR, advertising, etc.) We have several customers who have a hard time remembering basic things like their passwords and which passwords go where and how their programs work. Supporting these clients remotely is difficult because often they manage to lock themselves out of their computer and cannot get back to work until they bring their machine in.

From a business perspective if there was a single sign on and the customers didn't need to remember multiple passwords, its much easer. However, for environments with multiple legacy systems its much more complicated.

Also there are more issues with security because the IT department is not able to adequately control internet access to block malware.

If it infracture is set up to support telecommuting, and applications are configured to use a single sign on and there are no weird program old legacy programs it can satisfy business needs with low support costs.

It saves fuel but causes IT support people (like me) to risk getting premature grey hair.

[suziedemocrat]

8. I'm a COBOL programmer - why are legacy programs a problem?

People need to be educated that should they should change all of their work passwords at the same time - not wait until each expires and change them all at different times. That is a recipe for disaster even at work. (But it would be worse at home.)

[DavidMS]

Several reasions

1. They do not tie into a single sign on scheme meaning multiple passwords. Passwords also tend to be weak and and many of the customers write them down on slips of paper near their computer. Which is a major security issue.
2. Have perticular and unique requirements like administrative privilages that no average user in an enterprise needs (and can use to break their machine)
3. Where I work there are at least 4 - 5 families of systems with unique password requirements. Each one represents another point for human failure. Three systems if the telecomutor gets things wrong in will probably need signifigant hand holding by the helpdesk to fix things.

We are dealing with customers who confuse terms like "monitor" "keyboard" and "systems unit" meaning when I ask them what type of computer they are useing they respond "IBM" because its an IBM monitor as oppsosed to "Dell" which is correct because that the brand of the actual computer.

You sound fortunate that you havent done much end user support.

[suziedemocrat]

19. You're probably right! My users are Business Analysts.

I almost never talk to the "real" users.

[LSparkle]

6. I agree with everything I've read in this thread

I could probably work from home 2 or 3 days a week and would need to be in the office the rest of the time. But since my daily commute is 44 miles in L.A. traffic (roughly 2 hours total), I could definitely get more work done on my "home" days and frankly wouldn't mind. I think the "luxury" of just being able to brew up a pot of coffee and work at my kitchen table in sweats would improve my morale considerably, too ... Wish my company would consider it seriously (for the sake of other commuters stuck in traffic and our suffering air quality here in SoCal).

[phantom power]

11. Companies are gradually starting to see the light.

Change is slow, partially because most upper management is still old enough that they have a very hard time wrapping their heads around it. All of the people who have ever resisted my efforts to telecommute have been upper-management, 50 or over. And most of them have admitted that part of the problem was just age/cultural, but knowing that doesn't make them necessarily change their minds easily.

[HereSince1628]

9. Great for energy, but it confirms outsource-ablity

The energy side is a terrific positive.

The potential down side is--if you can work at your job from 30 miles away on a computer someone else can do the same from the opposite side of the world.

[suziedemocrat]

12. People already do my job from the other side of the world.

But really - outsourcing is not working out as well as people think. It's the dirty little secret no one wants to admit. I know of companies that had to bring everything back because of quality problems and others that had to increase QA funding to the point that it was not saving them to outsource programmers. Maybe Americans do do somethings well??? You think that is possible?

Although - I think China might be a more fierce competitor in applications programming than India. That's just the view from what I've seen so far.

[Tunkamerica]

10. I agree that's a great idea for some people...

...but for most that's impossible right now. Your cashier can't telecommute, neither can your waiter, your janitor, the people who drive the food to the stores, the people who fix things, the peope who make things.

Office and office help only make up 22 million of the jobs according to the department of labor. And assuming they ALL stay home they're still only a small fraction of the work force. Unfortunately, they're probably the ones who can afford the high price of gas.

But those of you who can telecommute, should. Those of us in positions where that isn't possible will think of something.

[suziedemocrat]

13. But if the high gas prices really ARE just supply and demand --

then reduced Demand should reduce prices? (Unless there is some sort of price fixing - but that would NEVER happen!)

[Tunkamerica]

15. Yes, i guess part of my point is that their segment of the demand

is pretty small when compared to all the other people that have to drive right now.

[Coastie for Truth]

16. I have been telecommuting for almost 4 years

Major problems

* My wife thinks that because I "work from home" I am available for all manner of chores and errands (we have grown kids, so no day care and chauffeuring issues).

* I am active in some service organizations - and the leadership seems to think that because I "work from home" I am always available for all manner of activities (which I really don't mind).

* Starbucks and a fancy bakery are in our transit village - too much temptation.

* The "work space" expands from the guest room (100% home office) to the two other bedrooms and the living room - aggravated by the 811.11g net of my laptop.

* The work day is overly flexible - I get calls from the East Coast (I am in CA) at 5 AM PST, and sometimes I work until 11 PM.

Major Advantages

* I save 90 minutes of drive time and 50 miles of gasoline, wear, and tear -- and avoid 101 --- every day.

* Flexibility.

* Better work product. (I am 65 and have been a manager)

* Personal flexibility - to goof off and catch a movie without losing any work.

* Work in "sweats" instead of "business casual."

* Go to the gym at off-peak times.

* Quality time with my friend-->

<>

sitting on the copier.

[suziedemocrat]

17. Awesome post!! Thanks for the insight!!

[phantom power]

18. Amen :-)

[hunter]

20. No, really, who are you sending scans of cat butts to?

:silly:

[Coastie for Truth]

21. She sits there

and gives me that cat stare while I am working - and bats papers that come out of the machine.

<>

[hunter]

22. I have dogs. They just sleep.

Then, when boss dog thinks I've been sitting in front of the computer too long, she gets up and rests her head on my leg and gives me sorrowful puppy eyes.

It's time to walk.

That's one good thing about working at home: pets.

[One_Life_To_Give]

23. Liability, Ergonomics, OSHA

One issue is the employer is responsible for work related injuries. Which includes injuries received while working at home. The employer is also responsible for your workplace meeting all OSHA requirements.

This may mean that the employer has to periodically inspect your work area. Maintain adequete records that your workplace in in compliance with requirements, etc.

[KingM34]

24. some good ideas, but...

Companies don't trust telecommuting, for one. It's hard enough to keep them from surfing all day when they work in the office. There first need to be better ways to measure productivity.