Yet Another Positive Story On Telework

Importantly, this press coverage is in the Washington, DC area, which has the potential to become a leader in telework because of its technological culture and the presence of major federal contrators and agencies.

The rising price of gas is cited as a powerful incentive to telecommute:

William Mularie, who heads the Telework Consortium, said gas prices have elevated the conversation about telework. He gave an example of why it is beneficial to work from home.

"If I'm a GS-12 federal worker and commute 20 miles into the District, I'm taking two months of my take-home pay, my take home pay, to pay for commuting to my office each year."

Productivity caused by lower stress levels is also cited:

"I don't have the stress level. I can focus more on the tasks I need to work on, and what I like about it is I'm not constricted by a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule," Hayden said.

Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle to working from home are power-mad bosses:

….Some workers said their colleagues have gotten tired of waiting for their bosses to offer it.

"I've had guys take buyouts and if they had option to work at home, they would have stayed," said commuter Hyungwon Kang.

It's nice seeing the local media pick up on the increasing recognition that working from home makes economic sense. However, massive change will probably not occur until major corporations undertake large homeshoring initiatives with the expressed purpose of increasing productivity while decreasing costs and freeing up capital. Such a trifecta is rare in the business world, but as I have indicated elsewhere on this blog, it is possible with homeshoring and other work at home solutions.