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What’s the difference between teleworking and telecommuting?

There is certainly some confusion around these terms and they are often used incorrectly. Teleworking is a broad term that can be defined as working at a distance. Telecommuting is a form of teleworking, as are satellite offices, neighborhood work centers, and mobile working.

How common is telecommuting?

SHRM’s “2008 Employee Job Satisfaction” report indicates that many companies offer nontraditional scheduling options to employees to help them balance their work and personal lives. Fifty-nine percent of HR professionals indicated their organizations offered flextime, which allowed employees to select their work hours within limits established by the employer. In addition to flextime, 57 percent of human resource professionals indicated that their organizations offered some form of telecommuting: 47 percent of respondents reported that their organizations offered telecommuting on an ad-hoc basis, 35 percent on a part-time basis and 21 percent on a full-time basis.

How many teleworkers will there be in the future?

A 2009 study by WorldatWork indicated that the number of US employees who worked remotely at least one day per month increased 39 percent the past two years, from approximately 12.4 million in 2006 to 17.2 million in 2008. In its survey brief Telework Trendlines™ 2009, WorldatWork reports that the sum of all teleworkers — employees, contractors and business owners — has risen 17 percent from 28.7 million in 2006 to 33.7 million in 2008.

What is the biggest barrier to telecommuting?

The greatest barrier may very well be attitude. Managers and companies are often hesitant to consider the option because they fear the loss of control when employees are not located in one place. But the reality of today’s workforce is dispersion — satellite offices and international firms mean that even employees who aren’t considered telecommuters may be located halfway across the world from their coworkers.