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• Go here for pre 2003 studies
• (also, see "Canadian, US, European and other country studies)

June 23/11 World at Work Study Despite More Frequent Use, Survey Finds First Decline in Number of Teleworkers. See report here

March 2011 IDC (International Data Corporation) predicts: Report:

3 million more teleworkers (180,000 more each year) by 2015. Telecommuting continues to be an economic bellwether — when times are tough, many return to the corporate office, giving up potential productivity gains for closer daily contact with colleagues and supervisors.”

Oct 2010 National Small Business Association survey. Telecommuting is a growing trend that is impacted by technology: (survey here)

—In 1997 only 9% of small businesses allowed telecommuting

—In 2007 19%

—Today, 44% of small businesses allow their employees to telecommute

June 15: Citrix Online Report titled “Workshifting Benefits: The Bottom Line”, compiled by Telework Research Network (TRN) says:
—Workshifting and Telecommuting Could Save Companies Billions Of Dollars per year in more productivity, cheaper office costs, less absenteeism, and less staff turnover.
—40% of American workers could work from home some of the time.

—79% would choose to if the opportunity were given to them.

—If these people worked from home 50% of the time a company of 100 would gain approximately $576,000 per year U.S. Business would: gain $235 billion in increased productivity; save $124 billion per year in office costs; save $46 billion in reduced absenteeism; and save $31 billion in reduced turnover.

• The number of employed Americans who performed ANY KIND of work from home, with a frequency range from as little as 1 day a year to full time, grew from 41.3 million in 2003 to 44.4 million in 2004, a 7.5% growth rate;
• Teleworkers who worked at home during business hours at least one day per month increased to 24.1 million in the past year (from 23.5 million);
• 16.5 million are self employed, a 4.4% increase over 2003.
• This represents 18.3% of employed adult Americans, nearly one-fifth of the workforce;
• The greatest increase in the number of teleworkers (57%) occurred in medium-sized businesses (100 – 999 employees)
• Use of broadband increased from 4.4 million teleworkers in 2003 to 8.1 million in 2004 (an 84% increase);
• Employers can realize an annual per employee savings of $5,000;
• Telework refers to work independent of location. Broadly defined, anyone who works at home, at a client's office, in a satellite office or a telework center, or on the road can be considered teleworking;

Note: In-Stat counts "telecommuters" as those who work from home regularly, including home-based entrepreneurs, small-business people and employees who work after-hours at least two nights a week.

US companies are increasingly letting their employees work at home part-time and even full-time. Working from home, especially full-time, gives the employee the opportunity to stay closer to their family, decrease commuting and work in a non-office environment. These factors result in happier employees and perhaps even some savings for employers, as well as greater productivity when employees have the ability to extend their work hours at home to finish an assignment. As a result, some companies are subsidizing the costs of telecommuting, especially broadband service. With this rise in telecommuting comes a rise in residential business broadband. Visit In-Stat/MDR on the web

• 36% offer part time telecommuting
• 19% offer full time telecommuting
• Employers know that offering competitive, attractive benefits packages is a key tool to remain competitive and to help recruit and retain great employees

Poll included 705 female and 243 male executives within three reporting levels of the CEO at companies picked from the 1,000 largest U.S. companies. Here are some of the results:

• Senior women executives want the top job just as much as men, striking against theories that more women are opting out of the business rat race.
• 55% of top female executives are aiming for the chief executive or equivalent position, compared with 57% of top male executives.
• Women with children are planning to leave in significant numbers
• today's women are more likely to make sacrifices in the name of their careers, and are happy to do so. These "trade-offs" include temporarily giving up personal pursuits like marriage and children
• Men are now involved in their families. They want to go to their kids' games, and they're sharing more of the household duties
• Both report problems with balancing their professional and personal lives
• 51% of women and 43% of men desire more work-life balance, including more telecommuting and flexible schedules
• Women cited seeking out high-profile assignments and networking as their most successful strategies for advancement

• The most common barrier to an effective “everywhere workplace” is an “out of sight, out of mind” culture and not technology
• those who work off-site are more productive and better able to manage their time
• interruptions from family are infrequent
• while only 12% of managers nationwide has received any training on how to manage off-site employees, 92% of managers who were trained found it greatly helped manage off-site workers better
• 83% of employees experience off-site work in some form, but we still are managing them as if all workers are sitting in the same office
• Employers who embrace telecommuting can maximize their productivity and increase the work/life balance of employees

Study available here (pdf file)

• 17% of employees work from home at least once a week.
• of these, 30% are self-employed; 17% are employees who telework during normal hours; the remaining 53% are "day extenders" who voluntarily take work home after hours
• 14.8% of employees who telework are males, while 15.2% are female
• 17% of employees with children telecommute, while 13.7% of employees without children telecommute
• Productivity: Telecommuters handled 26% more calls and brought in 43% more business than at-office workers
• Careful planning is required to avoid potential pitfalls. Employees must be able to work in a largely self-directed environment that requires self-motivation and self-discipline

• 77% would jump at the opportunity to work from home if their employers offered it to them
• 86% felt that having the choice to work either at home or in the office was the ideal setup.

Stress, quality of life and enhancing relationships with their partners are the key factors for most workers

• 80% claim that it would make their job less stressful
• 74% convinced that it would enhance their relationship with their partner
• 51% of commuters admitted that they felt long hours affected their relationship adversely, with one man saying his long hours at work is the reason he's getting a divorce.
• 70% of workers felt that if they were trusted to work in a flexible environment their productivity would improve
• 67% of employees said telework would make them more loyal to their employer

Telework growth in US

• Cost savings and office overloads - 67%
• Enhanced productivity 64%
• Improved morale - 49%
• improved business continuity during emergencies 39%
• improved recruitment and retention - 29%

2003 survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and Cendant Mobility and the National Foreign Trade Council. May 2003 Survey reveals new focus frequently considered alternatives to relocation and international assignments include more local hiring (30%) and telecommuting (28%)

April 2003 International Telework Association Survey reveals that Broadband access boosts teleworker productivity, saves employers more than $5,000 every year

• Offering higher starting salaries than competitors — 46%
• Allowing telecommuting and/or flexible work schedules — 33%
• Offering signing bonuses — 5%
• Offering extra vacation days — 3%
• Benefits/benefit package/insurance — 2%
• Other — 3%
• Don't know/no answer — 8%

July, 2002 Information Technology Association of America. Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere Report, based on a survey of 1000 registered voters, outlines the changing face of work. Here are some of the findings:

• Telecommuting, or “e-work” is widely recognized by most adults as a fast track to a better life

• 54% think telecommuting would improve the quality of their lives. For those with a 1+ hour per day commute, this view jumps to 66%

• 36% would choose telecommuting over a pay raise

• 43% of respondents said they would be a better spouse or parent if they were able to telecommute

• 46% think that the quality of work would improve if they were able to telecommute

• Among those who commute, about 1/3 would prefer the option of telecommuting over a higher salary. Half of these said they would be more likely to telecommute if technology was able to facilitate face to face interaction and meetings

• Biggest concerns about e-work:

  • 20% - not having enough contact with co-workers
  • 19% - not being able to separate home and work
  • 10% - being out of “Information Loop”
  •  6% - not enough face time with boss
  •  5% - not being able to handle computer problems at home
  •  5% - missing good assignments or opportunities

April 2002 Cahner In-Stat Group study: Businesses of all sizes accept telecommuting, but tech support faces a challenge, say researchers  In 2001, 31 million people (25% of the US workforce) telecommuted at least part of their work week. Some 19 million of these (over 10% of the workforce) have access to the Internet from home, enabling them to do their jobs remotely, and often to connect to corporate networks. The total number is expected to swell to 40 million by 2004

March 2002: Study by Access Markets International Partners, a revolution is underway in the U.S. workplace.  The study predicts 67 million people - more than half of the U.S. domestic workforce - will be working remotely or telecommuting by 2006

US Bureau of Labor Statistics :March 2002 survey reveals one in seven workers worked at home at least once a week during 2001

Nov 2001. Gartner Dataquest predicts over 25% of US companies to increase commitment to supporting telecommuting & supporting remote offices and employees. Can expect a number of satellite offices to replace a single headquarters building as home to the entire corporation. Trend will affect bandwidth patterns and requirements to support remote work as well as collaborative workgroup and integrated access capabilities and conferencing applications

Institute for the Study of Distributed Work: Teleworkers -- defined as corporate employees working outside the office at least two days a week -- will rise to 13.7 million, or 9.2% of the work force, by 2005, up from 10.4 million now and 6.3 million in 1995.

Oct 2001 Telework America Statistics released by ITAC reveal a jump of 17% to 28.8 million US teleworkers over the past year - that's one in five Americans. Typical teleworker works 1+ days a week away from the traditional office environment, lives in the northeast or western regions of the U.S, has a college education, is 35 to 44 years of age and married, and makes over $40,000 annually. According to the survey, an "overwhelming majority" of these teleworkers are more satisfied with their jobs, are more productive, and feel more loyal to their employers.

Dec, 001 Catalyst Research Study Gen X'ers want and expect their employers to provide flextime, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, and policies and programs that make balancing their work and personal lives easier

Mar 14, 2001 WorldCom Study Americans are embracing virtual work at an unprecedented rate. Being fueled by tech advancements, cross functional collaborative teams and a competitive job market, alternative work practices (including virtual project teams, telecommuting and remote management of geographically dispersed employees). Among the findings:

• Virtual work helps improve job satisfaction, save costs and boost corporate productivity
• 67% of American have engaged in virtual work
• 46% involved in virtual work at least once a week; 14% do so daily
• 31% work in a virtual management structure, i.e., immediate manager/staff not located in the same office
• 27% work for organizations with formal policies that encourage virtual work
• 48% work for organizations that allow virtual work practices, even if no formal policy exists
• 91% agree that virtual work saves their companies time and money
• 61% percent of employees in large companies (those with at least 500 employees) have participated in virtual project teams

Feb 2001 Cahners In-Stat Group Report: Entering the Access Era: U.S. Telecommuter Demographics & the Impact of Fragmentation on IT Platforms

Firms in these markets are expected to see consistent growth in the number of telecommuters they support each year, with the total number of online telecommuters growing at an average rate of 17% annually in the enterprise market, and 11% in the middle market. Other findings:

• Number of telecommuters doubles to 32 million (roughly 24% of the U.S. workforce) in 2001
• To increase by 40 million to 28% in 2004
• Nearly 70% have Access to the Internet
• Mostly from small and SOHO businesses, consistent with the greater contribution of smaller firms to the size of the general telecommuter workforce.
• Growth attributed to changes in work attitudes; advancements in basic technologies
• Telecommuters could eventually become a significant issue for corporate IT departments, particularly as these employees start accessing a growing array of business resources online
• The key opportunity for technology providers lies in Internet-accessing telecommuters working in the "corporate markets" or for mid-sized and large businesses
• The SOHO business market supported an estimated 6.6 million Internet-accessing telecommuters in 2000, roughly 28% of the segment's total workforce and the small business market was home to more than 5.3 million Internet-accessing at-home workers in 2000, making up 13% of the small business workforce
• The enterprise market supported roughly 5 million Internet-accessing at-home workers, with these telecommuters making up 10% of its total workforce. The middle market is the smallest employer of online telecommuters, with these at-home workers estimated to account for 11% of the middle market workforce last year.

Jan, 22/01 Time For Telework Study While federal gov't telecommuting endures a bumpy start, it may finally be shifting out of neutral.  Called "Time for tele-work", It talks about how -- like the highway interstate system -- telecommuting in the federal government has endured a bumpy start. But after years of executive orders, pilot programs and studies, it may finally be shifting out of neutral. Part 2 of the report will address how telecommuting affects work relationships and how employees can promote telecommuting in their agencies

Jan, 2001 Fishwrap Telecommuting Index

• Number of telecommuters in the United States: 19.6 million
• Amount of greenhouse gas emissions kept out of the air each day by telecommuters' not driving to work: 39,000 tons of hydrocarbons; 590,000 tons of carbon monoxide; 31,000 tons of nitrogen oxides (Reason Public Policy Institute, January 2000)
• Average total number of people who collapse and die each year from heatwaves in the 15 largest U.S. cities, where the warming effects of greenhouse gases are amplified: 1,500
• Expected number by 2020: 3,000 - 4,000 (Reuters News Service, November 2000)
• Number of lives saved per year through reduced highway deaths as a result of telecommuting: 350 (Reason Public Policy Institute, January 2000)
• Number of non-alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the United States in 1999: 25,825 (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
• Percent of U.S. employers that offer telecommuting: 16
• Percent of employees who actually telecommute: 9 (Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University, February 2000)

Oct, 2000 Telework America research survey

• 21% growth in U.S. teleworker population over previous year
• total number equals 24 million
• includes 17 million teleworkers employed full-time
• 39% of workers who do not currently work remotely would like to telework
• 13% of those would consider telework a key consideration in deciding whether to accept another job

• there are some 8 million full-time telecommuters in the U.S
• expected to grow to about 13.5 million in the next 2 years
• teleworkers have 22-45% higher productivity than at-office counterparts

Nov 2000: IDC projection

• U.S. mobile and remote population will increase at a 9% compound annual growth rate
• Will grow from 39 million in 2000 to 55 million in 2004
  Of these:
  • 34% will be mobile professionals
  • 31% will be day extenders
  • 21% will be telecommuters
  • 14% will be mobile data collectors

• US home Internet access reaches critical mass
• 52% of U.S. homes have Internet access

• Survey of 500 CEOs from the fastest-growing US IT firms.
• 55% say finding, hiring and keeping qualified workers is biggest challenge
• Keeping employees happy is a key component, and that often means letting them telework
• 42% of those surveyed said they offered telecommuting to their employees

• Oct '97- 11 million
• Oct '98- 15.7 million
• Oct '99-19.6 million

Survey says nearly 20% of Central Texans telecommute

April 2000, Lee Hecht Harrison Telecommuting survey of 769 HR professionals. Among the findings:

• 90% say it is a growing trend
• 80% would telecommute if given the option
• 68% say telecommuters are no more difficult to manage than on-site employees
• 29% say they are distracting and hard to manage, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks

• The majority of U.S. telecommuters accomplish at least 30% more work in the same amount of time.
• However, most are required to provide their own computers etc, and receive no training or ergonomic advice of any type

American Express: teleworkers handled 26% more calls and produced 43% more business than their office-based counterparts.

Sundel Research Inc. 72% of 3000 Utah firms surveyed by are considering telework program. Companies which participated say telework (aka telecommuting), helps them attract and retain top talent and helps employees avoid commuting hassles, such as during winter storms.

American Management Association survey reveals that 93% of teleworkers receive no training at all.

North Carolina State Auditor Ralph Campbell: "By our own conservative estimate, the State could save over $23 million in improved productivity, reduced costs in office space, and avoid personnel turnover costs versus the cost of implementing such a program for only 5% of our workforce.

Ceridian Employer Services, 10% (roughly 300) of fulltime employees telecommute fulltime - a number that has doubled in the past two years. Most are required to be in the office just one day a week for meetings.

Antelope Valley Health Net Telecommuting Center: productivity is 15% higher for telecommuters than for non-telecommuting employees.

AT&T: Some 24% of its 75,000 managers worldwide work from home at least once a week - up from 8% in 1993. The key benefits for them are productivity gains and real property savings. Telecommuters put in at least an hour more a day than those in the office. Since 1991, telework has saved AT&T approximately $550 million by eliminating or consolidating office space people no longer need.

IBM's Mobility Initiative (mobile work and telework) saves some $100 million annually. staff surveys show that personal productivity and effectiveness have improved significantly.

InfoWorld IS Newsweekly: "An estimated 55 million employees will work outside a conventional office setting by the Year 2000."

Georgia State Governor Zell Miller "So don't write telecommuting off with just a cursory glance.  It is not just a passing fad. It is here to stay, and it is already more wide-spread than you might think." (1992)

Chiat-Day, Venice: This advertising agency cut its real estate holdings by 40% by introducing telework

Compaq Computer Corporation documented productivity increases ranging from 15 to 45%.

Garry Mathiason (Partner, Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff, Tichy & Mathiason Law Firm): "Telecommuting is the way we're going to work. If you don't include telecommuting in your program, your company will not be competitive."

Gartner Group: Bob Hafner estimates telecommuters to reach 30 million (U.S.) by the year 2000.  He further estimates that by 2003, there will be some 137 million telecommuters.

Jack Nilles of Jala Associates, predicts in 1998 that there will be some 20 million U.S. telecommuters by the year 2000.

The Institute for the Study of Distributed Work in Oakland, California reckons that "companies save $2 for every $1 invested in remote equipment and extra phone lines".

CFO Magazine, October 1997 "One in four Fortune 1000 companies now has a formal program for employees who regularly telecommute either part time or full time, according top a July KPMG Peat Marwick LLP study. And the number is expected to double within the next three years.”

Merrill Lynch: Morale at Merrill Lynch went up 30% due to telecommuting

Pacific Bell: Jennifer Hill, alternative officing strategy manager estimates that telework will save over $20 million dollars in office leasing over a five-year period.

The City of Los Angeles: (1) estimated productivity increases ranged from 12.5% to 20% for a saving of over $6,000 per telecommuter. Sick leave was reduced by 5 days a year. 18% said that telecommuting influenced their decision to remain with the organization. (2) If the City [LA] were to have its 15,934 teleworkers working from home an average of 1.4 days per week, then the annual pollution reduction would be on the order of 6,150,000 pounds of carbon monoxide; 380,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides; and 1,150,000 pounds of unburned hydrocarbons..." (JALA International, March 1993).

The US Federal Government About 40% of some 800,000 jobs in US government are easily "telecommutable". Following President Clinton's kick off of a drive to promote telework, the number of teleworkers should rise to about 160,000 by the year 2002. As of 1999, there were some 25,000 Federal teleworkers, so they have a bit to go. The government's program was originally driven by environmental reasons, however this has now changed to quality of life, productivity and increased availability of services to clients.

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