Who's telecommuting and who isn't -- Career Center Blog

The Seattle Times Company

July 1, 2011

Who's telecommuting and who isn't

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By Michelle Goodman
NWjobs

Every time I write a blog post or article about telecommuting, the reader questions come pouring in:

How can I find a telecommuting job?

Do work-from-home jobs for entry-level workers exist?

I like my job and could do some of it from home, if only my manager would let me -- how can I convince her?

[Flickr photo by faster panda kill kill]

That's why I was excited to come across a new study called the State of Telework in the U.S. Finally, we'd have some bona fide demographics on today's telecommuters.

Unfortunately, the survey findings are not too encouraging for those on the lower rungs of the workforce and those on the lower end of the pay spectrum.

According to the Telework Research Network, which commissioned the study, the average telecommuter is 49 years old, has a college degree, and works in a professional, senior, or management role. In addition, more than 75 percent of those who work from home make at least $65,000 a year, which puts them in the top 80 percentile of all workers.

Today's limited state of telecommuting isn't for lack of desire. Workers want their telecommuting and they want it bad.

But as the study found, telecommuting and flexible work schedules are still treated by employers as more of a perk than a standard business practice. In fact, the Telework Research Network reminds us that of the 64 million U.S. employees with jobs that could be partially conducted from home, fewer than 3 million of them regularly telecommute. That's little more than 2 percent of all the nation's employees.

So just how badly do U.S. workers want to telecommute? Some statistics from the survey:

One in two U.S. workers who currently do not telecommute would like to.
Thirty-seven percent of U.S. workers without any telecommuting privileges would gladly take a pay cut if it meant they could have more control over where they work.

Interested in talking to your employer about telecommuting privileges? The following Nine to Thrive posts can help:

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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Chryssa | July 5, 2011 1:45 PM | Reply

I worked for a group where everyone was remote on my team. It was beyond challenging; we were in 3 different time zones, my manager didn't schedule regular phone meetings, and I had a hard time getting hold of my peers when I needed something from them. Our corporate office was out of someone's home, and when I had to fax them something, they were on vacation and I had to spend money to overnight documents to someone else on the team because no one had access to the home office.

I find that most people are more productive and communicative when they are working in the office the majority of time, and that working from home one or two days a week is the best solution.

Brie | July 5, 2011 2:08 PM | Reply

While I think that it's true that telecommuting opportunities are still very much evolving for entry-level professionals and for certain industries, I'm incredibly encouraged by the data that I see every day. I work for www.FlexJobs.com and our listings for telecommuting and flexible jobs have increased 400% since we were founded in 2007. Our job researchers spend a combined 100+ hours every day searching for and finding legitimate telecommuting job openings and we have over 5,000 jobs listed on our site right now.

I completely agree that as a country, we have a long way to go before telecommuting is standard practice rather than a perk, but people who are interested in this line of work shouldn't be discouraged, they just have to keep seeking out opportunities, both at their current jobs and in their job searches.