“Letting Employees Work from Home Can Be a Win-Win for Employers and Staff Alike.”

For employees, the option to telecommute appeals to a vast majority of full-time workers.  Research by Global Workplace Analytics found that there are benefits for employees and employers when employees telecommute and work at home.  For employees, the chief advantages are

• Reduced time commuting to work
• Lower costs of commuting to the office
• Less stress of juggling the demands of work and family

There are also benefits for employers including

• Less office space is needed because not every employee works in the office every day
• Lower expenses for rent or costs associated with ownership of office space
• A new way to attract talent because employees like the option of working at home
• Increased employee motivation and engagement because telecommuting is considered a benefit

The top five companies and organizations that encourage telecommuting are:

1. United-Health Group
2. Dell
3. S. Department of Agriculture
4. Xerox
5. Humana

For more information about this article and a complete list of the top 20 companies for telecommuting,  click here.

Teaching Suggestions

• You may want to use the information in this blog post and the original article to point out the benefits of telecommuting.

Discussion Questions

1. Not everyone is a candidate to work at home. What traits and time management skills are needed if you obtain a job where you can work at home?
2. Are there disadvantages to telecommuting and working at home?