Productivity
Greener Benefits
Absenteeism
Number of Teleworker's in U.S.
Demographics
Worker Schedules and Tasks
Employer/ Worker Satisfaction
Attracting Top Talent
Overhead Savings
What Telework Could Do for You
Average Manager to Employee Ratio
Federal Government and Telework
Continuity of Operations Planning
Cost of Teleworkers
AT&T realizes $100 million in savings per year from Teleworker productivity increases. (AT&T 2000)
Nearly 60 % of employees believe that telecommuting at least part time is the ideal work situation, according to a new survey on worker productivity. (The Hudson Index, 2006)
The more than 100 MDOT (Maryland Department of Transportation) employees who Telework have shown a 27% increase in productivity. (1998)
JD Edwards Teleworkers are from 20% to 25% more productive than their office counterparts. (Chicago Sun Times, 10/99)
American Express company's Teleworkers produce 43% more business than their office counterparts. (Colorado Telework Coalition)
Compaq Teleworkers are from 15% - 45% more productive than their office counterparts. (Colorado Telework Coalition)
Industry Canada reports productivity gains of up to 50% by Teleworkers. (Trade-Marks Branch)
IBM Canada had Teleworker productivity improvements of up to 50% per teleworker. (IBM, Canada)
Boeing finds that telework helps to increase their employee's productivity an average of 1530% and, "The quality of the work done has improved even more!" (Boeing Case Study provided by Telecommute Connecticut)
Telecommuting saves 840 million gallons of fuel annually in the U.S. (Environmental Leader, 2007)
A new national study commissioned by the Consumer Electronics Association shows that using electronics to telecommute saves the equivalent of 9 to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year — the same amount of energy used by roughly 1 million U.S. households every year. (Tech Journal, 2007)
According to the 15th annual CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey by CCH INC, an Illinois based Human Resources consulting firm, (CCH, 2005) the rate of unscheduled absenteeism barely budged since the prior year, the average per-employee cost rose to $660 per employee -- costing some large employers more than $1 million per year. The survey also found that employee morale can affect a company's absenteeism rate. Organizations with Good/Very Good morale experienced a 1.5-percent rate of unscheduled absences while those reporting Poor/Fair morale had a rate of 3.2 percent.
CCH Inc., estimates that businesses lose $789 per employee per year because of emergency time off. That means employers with as few as 20 employees lose nearly $16,000 per year, while large employers with more than 2,000 workers suffer losses in excess of $1.5 million. And those figures do not take into account the cost of lost productivity or the overtime pay needed to compensate for lost employee time.
Employers can save 63% of absenteeism costs per year by utilizing Teleworkers. (ITAC, 1999)
In 2006, there were an estimated 45 million Teleworkers in the U.S. (World at Work, 2007)
Sun Microsystems expanded its Telework policies after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Presently 56% of 34,494 employees work without an assigned office, either at home or a satellite office. Nearly 3,200 employees work from home at least four days a week. (Tech News World, 05/07)
22.2 million Americans worked from home or another out-of-office location at least one day per week in 2005. (Forbes.com 7-27-06)
In 2003, there were 4.4 million Teleworkers working at home with broadband. By 2004, the number soared to 8.1 million, an 84% increase. 2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group.
Teleworkers who worked at home during business hours at least one day per month increased in the past year from 23.5 million to 24.1 million, a 2.6% increase. Of that 24.1 million, 16.5 million are self employed, a 4.4% increase over 2003. This 24.1 million represents 18.3% of employed adult Americans, nearly one-fifth of the workforce. (2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group.)
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. (2004 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group)
39% of US workers would like to Telework, but only 31% feel their employers will let them. (University of Connecticut Study)
US Regions with the highest per capita densities of Teleworkers are New England , Mountain and Pacific. (ITAC, 2000)
It is estimated that 100 million US workers will Telecommute by 2010. (Kiplinger, 12/00)
Approximately 22% of Teleworkers are employed by companies with more than 1000 employees. (IDC/LINKFLASH)
20% of Teleworkers are supervised from out-of-state. (ITAC, 2000)
More than 65% of Teleworkers are employed by companies with fewer than 100 employees. (IDC/LINKFLASH)
65% of home Teleworkers are males versus 44% of non-Teleworkers. (ITAC, 2000)
45% of Teleworkers have a separate home office space. (ITAC, 1999)
67% of Teleworkers are married or from couple households. (ITAC, 1999)
The average age of Teleworkers are: 17%, 18-29 Yrs; 60%, 30-49 Yrs; 22%, 50-64 Yrs. (ITAC, 1999)
Home Teleworkers have on average 1 PC for work and 1 PC for non-work purpose. Non-Teleworkers average 0.8 PCs for work and 0.5 PCs for non-work. (ITAC, 2000)
Today, more than 100,000 Customer Service Representatives work from home, and IDC predicts that by 2010 the number will exceed 300,000. (Naylor, Mary A., Business Week Online, 5/2/2000)workers work: 38% of time at their computer, 17% on the phone, 24% on reading, research & analysis, and 9% in face-to-face meetings. (ITAC, 1999)
Teleworkers typically work 1-2 days per week (5.5days/month) from home. (ITAC 1999)
Penn. State University researchers analyzed 46 studies on Telecommuting that included more than 12,000 employees and found, "Telecommuters reported that they were more satisfied with their jobs, were motivated to stay with the employer, experienced less stress, were able to balance work and family time better and got higher ratings from their bosses." (Reuters 2007)
Less than 1% of telecommuters want to stop once they have started to telecommute. (Nortel Networks)
Of home-based Teleworkers, 38% desired more home Teleworking. (ITAC, 2000)
91% of Federal employees with the option to Telework are either very satisfied or satisfied with their current jobs, only 80% of Federal employees without the option to Telework are similarly satisfied. (CDW-G Report March 6, 2006)
Attracting Top TalentAccording to a compensation survey of 1,400 CFOs conducted by Robert Half International, 46% said telecommuting and flex-time are second only to salary as the best way to attract top talent. However, 33% said telecommuting was the top draw. CFOs were asked, "In your opinion, which one of the following incentives is most effective in attracting top accounting candidates?" Their responses:
Offering higher starting salaries than competitors - 46%
Allowing telecommuting and/or flex-time - 33%
Offering signing bonuses - 5%
Offering extra vacation days - 3%
Benefits/benefit package/insurance - 2%
Other - 3%
Don't know/no answer - 8%
53% of Teleworkers say the ability to work at home is important to their employment choice. (ITAC, 1999)
AT&T saves $18 million a year in recruiting and worker retention costs and $25 million in real estate costs because of its formal Telework program. (AT&T, 2000)
According to NORTEL , the cost to relocate an employee to another city can run as high as $100,000,and it can cost $2,500 just to move an employee from one cube to another.
NORTEL also , the entire cost to outfit and equip an employee to Telework is made up in the first year if only 3.5 days away from work can be saved, (i.e. time lost due to a doctor's appointment, ill child, employee illness, other personal situation that requires time away from an office.) That number drops to 1.5 days in subsequent years.
The bottom line, according to Dow Chemical: Administrative costs have dropped 50% annually (15% of which was attributed to commercial real estate costs.) Productivity increased by 32.5% (10% through decreased absenteeism, 16% by working at home and 6.5% by avoiding the commute.)
Office space for the average worker costs $10,000 per year.
Telework can cut corporate real estate costs from 25% to 90%. (PC World)
IBM reduced real estate costs in the US by from 40% - 60%. (Telecommuting Review)
What Can Telework do for YouA 40 minute commute equates to 8 working weeks per year. ( Colorado Telework Coalition)
Teleworkers save an average 53 minutes of commuting each day they do not drive to work. (ITAC, 1999)
Average Manager to Employee RatioThe manager/staff ratio in a virtual organization is 1:40. It is 1:4 in a traditional office. (Ft. Lauderdale Sentinel)
Federal Government and Telework
Currently there is a bill in the SEnate that will mandate all Federal employees are eligible for Telework unless proven otherwise. Click here to view this bill.
The Federal Government has mandated that all Federal agencies offer at least 25% of their workforce the option to Telework or suffer millions in fines .
CDW-G report reveals new momentum in Federal Telework, with 41% of responding Federal employees indicating that they currently Telework - up from 19% at the same time last year. Validating the jump in participation, 43% of surveyed Federal Teleworkers indicate that they have started Teleworking in the last year. (CDW-G Report March 6, 2006)
Continuity of Operations Planning
87% of Federal employees with the option to Telework would be able to continue their work via Telework if their office were closed due to a storm or some other catastrophe. In comparison, only 62% of non-Teleworkers said they would be able to execute their jobs. (CDW-G Report March 6, 2006)
In terms of current conditions, a study by the General Services Administration reveals a huge disparity in spending. The agency with the most bare-bones Teleworking program is spending $310 per user in Teleworking related IT, while the agency with the largest program is spending $5420 per user. (The study does not identify agencies by name.) Among all 20 agencies surveyed, the average per-user cost is $1920. (According to a study in 2006 by the General Services Administration (GSA) which interviewed 8,000 Federal Teleworkers and managers)
Last updated: March 7, 2008