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December 20, 2012 By News Staff
Answer: five to seven
Though it's often assumed that folks who telecommute work less than their in-office counterparts -- the opposite is actually true, according to The hard truth about telecommuting, a report from Mary C. Noonan with the University of Iowa's Department of Sociology and Jennifer L. Glass with the Department of Sociology and Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
According to the report, 24 percent of employed Americans reported in recent surveys that they work at least some hours at home each week. And where the impact of telecommuting has been evaluated, "it seems to boost productivity, decrease absenteeism and increase retention," the report states.
But it also means that those employees who telecommute (who are typically salaried) are working 5 to 7 extra hours each week, which equals anywhere from 260 to 364 extra hours per year -- an additional 32 to 45 days.
And, not surprisingly, telecommuting is not helpful in reducing work-family conflicts, according to the report.
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I can see where telecommuters put in additional hours - but was the timea ctually meaasured? I suspect that the respondents (the telecommuters themselves) answered with a number that is most likely higher than actually what they put in extra. How to create an accurate measure for this, short of having a timing program connected to the device that measures actual work time (key storkes versus just the machine powered up), then these numbers are estiamtes at best.
Interesting, but not surpirsing. I am sure telecommuters put in extra hours, but how was this accurately measured? Did the respondents just answer a number without acutally tracking it? I know the article states 'slaried' employees, but how will HR handle the additional work time when telecommuteres start asking for compensation for it?
Sorry Doc, but having been a long time telecommuter in a previous life I can tell you it's the dirty little secret of telecommuting. You work WAY more hours than you ever did in the office, and those hours include more work because there's no one to socialize with either. The company makes out like a bandit. 'Oh wait, just one more email...'
It is true that those who work from home part or all of the time, work more hours and more productively. Lack of distractions allows for greater efficiency while flexibility of hours allows for long uninterrupted hours of work. Still, no telecommuter that I know would want to go into an office when she could work from home. Being productive and getting the work done in a timely manner and with better quality simply feels good. It beats sitting in traffic for an hour then being interrupted every fifteen minutes while trying to accomplish simple tasks. Still, there are ways to protect against overworking. I’ve discovered TransparentBusiness.com which tracks the work I do for my employer in real time. At the end of my 8 hours, I can log off and my employer has a complete log of every task I accomplished in my work day. When it comes to working from home, transparency is key. Your boss may be much more willing to allow work from home when she knows you are working when you’re supposed to be working. And because I’m not wasting two hours a day driving back and forth to the office, I have much more time for the fun stuff, like doing laundry and making dinner.