More Valley workers working from home

By Tim Sheehan - The Fresno Bee

Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 | 12:00 AM

Up and down the central San Joaquin Valley, a growing number of people are taking advantage of technology that frees them from cramped cubicles, loud officemates and commuting to the office.

They are part of a slow -- but unmistakable -- nationwide trend in which more workers are doing their jobs from their homes, either as self-employed entrepreneurs or telecommuters working for companies hundreds or thousands of miles from their computers.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about 14,200 people in Fresno County worked from home for their primary job in 2010. That is about 4.1% of the county's working population, and an increase of almost 3,500 since 2000.

From Merced County to Tulare and Kings counties, the number of home-based workers in the Valley in 2010 (when the last census was conducted) was estimated at more than 27,300, or slightly less than 4% of people with jobs.

Nationally, the number was 5.8 million. That's a relative drop in the bucket of the overall U.S. workforce -- about 4.3% -- but it's about 1.6 million more than in 2000, the Census Bureau reported.

The rapid pace of technological change is believed to be the primary driver in not only the growth in the number of home-based workers, but the changing blend of industries they represent, said Peter Mateyka, a Census Bureau analyst.

"As communication and information technologies advance, we are seeing that workers are increasingly able to perform work at home," Mateyka said in a Census report this month. "These changes in work patterns have both economic and social implications."

That doesn't mean, however, that telecommuting is destined to become an option for every employee or employer.

"A lot of people overassume that telecommuting is the wave of the future," said Derek Scharton, a software engineer for a Bay Area financial services company, who does his homework in a bedroom that has been converted into an office at his northwest Fresno home.

"If you're looking for a job and you approach a company, especially a startup, about telecommuting, you have a very high probability of getting discarded."

Felicia Lopez of Clovis, who works as a product specialist/analyst for a Michigan-based division of a worldwide software and information company, said she believes that all but the largest employers are unlikely to buy into telecommuting as an option for workers.

"I don't see it becoming a booming trend," said Lopez, whose husband also telecommutes for the same company. "Larger corporations may be more inclined to go with home-based workers, but my personal experience is that smaller companies may not be. They can't necessarily put the risk out there."

Not new, but changing

Working from home is nothing new. But the characteristics of the home-based worker have been changing over the past five decades, the Census Bureau reported.

For years, self-employed workers dominated the ranks of the home-based workers.

"In the 1960s, home-based workers were primarily self-employed farmers and professionals, including doctors and lawyers," according to a Census report. But the growth of larger farms over family farms and changes in market conditions caused the number of home-based workers to decline between 1960 and 1980.

Self-employed workers now make up just less than 50% of the home-based workforce, while people who work for private companies and nonprofits have grown to nearly 45%. In 2000, about 1.3 million people worked at home for companies and nonprofits. By 2010, that number ballooned to nearly 2.3 million. Those home-based workers who were self-employed also grew during the same period, but at a much slower pace -- from about 2.4 million in 2000 to about 2.8 million in 2010.

The report indicates that home-based work in occupations related to computers, engineering and science grew by 69% between 2000 and 2010. "Workers in these occupations are more likely to be able to benefit from computer technology, voice and electronic communications, and remote connectivity to complete their work," the report states. "In contrast, occupations in which work must be performed onsite are less likely to benefit from this technology."

Flexibility, discipline

Out of about 50 software engineers who work for his company, Scharton is one of only about five who telecommute. Scharton worked for his employer for seven years, commuting from home to office daily, before broaching the subject of telecommuting with his employers.

"I wanted to make sure everybody was cool with it before I even thought about moving back" to Fresno, where he grew up. He has been working from home for about five years.

Scharton still goes to Sunnyvale one day each week -- something he doesn't mind because he values the face time with his colleagues. "There's still the added benefit of physical bodies all in one room hashing out an issue," he said. But improved videoconferencing technology "is getting closer to accomplishing that for people who work remotely."

Lopez said that all of the members on the product-analysis team that she and her husband work on are home-based workers and are scattered across the country -- including their supervisors.

"From a corporate perspective, the primary goal is to find knowledgeable people wherever they are, and make them part of the team," she said. The members teleconference frequently and are able to collaborate well. "The company doesn't require people to relocate and uproot their families."

Because the Lopezes have a 2-year-old daughter, "that was one of the main draws for me," Lopez said. "When I worked in an office, I was away from her from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m."

Her daughter still goes to child care, but the hours are much shorter than before. "Now I'm not gone from her for half of the calendar day like she was before," Lopez said. "She's the reason why I do pretty much anything I do."

But it takes a special type of discipline to focus on work when the comforts of home are so close at hand.

"With a family, there can be some distractions," Scharton said. "At least for me, I have to have a true office where I can shut the door, and I have a separate phone number for work."

For a change of pace, when there is an Internet outage at his home or simply to get away from distractions, Scharton occasionally escapes to Hashtag Fresno, a Tower District enclave where work-at-home types and independent entrepreneurs can take advantage of shared office and conference facilities.

"I've also gone there in the summer for air-conditioning relief," Scharton said. "I have to cool the whole house just to make one room comfortable, I can go there and they're running their AC anyway."

Balancing work and home when working at home is also tricky for Lopez.

"It's a Catch-22 for me," she said. "I think I end up working more because work is right there. I can be cooking dinner and think, 'Oh, there's something I can add to that report,' and then I end up popping open my laptop and doing it.

"There are times you lose focus, but that can happen regardless of where you're at. I have a dedicated work area at home, so I'm not in bed in my pajamas and bunny slippers. But I find it easy to focus because I'm comfortable."

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/21/3036884/more-valley-workers-do-homework.html

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/21/3036884_p2/more-valley-workers-do-homework.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/10/21/3036884/more-valley-workers-do-homework.html#storylink=cpy

Case Study: State Tax Policies Discourage Firms From Offering Telecommuting Option

By Nadine Gjurich

Telecommuting is increasingly becoming a fact of life due to advances in technology. Yet, despite the numerous advantages of telecommuting to both companies and employees, employers are hesitating to offer telecommuting as an option to an out-of-state employee because of the likelihood that states will subject the employer to a variety of state and local taxes when the only nexus they have with the state is a single employee telecommuting from the state.

“A fundamental issue that arises in situations where an employee resides in one state and telecommutes to a company located in another state is whether that creates nexus sufficient for the company to apportion income to the state of residence for purposes of the state's corporate income tax,” Joseph Huddleston, executive director of the Multistate Tax Commission, told BNA Sept. 20.

Telebright and Nexus in New Jersey.

The recent decision in Telebright Corporation Inc. v. Director, New Jersey Division of Taxation, 25 N.J. Tax 222 (2010), aff'd, 424 N.J. Super. 384 (2012), may have established the precedent states will follow when deciding whether to assess tax liability on an out-of-state employer that has only one employee telecommuting from the state on a full-time basis.

In Telebright, the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed the New Jersey Tax Court decision that one full-time employee telecommuting from her New Jersey home had enough nexus with New Jersey to subject her out-of-state employer to New Jersey corporate business tax.

Telebright Corp. Inc. maintained offices in Maryland and had an employee who relocated to New Jersey for personal reasons. Telebright allowed her to telecommute full-time at her own expense. The employee, who developed and wrote software code for Telebright, worked entirely from her home and attended company meetings in Maryland twice a year. Telebright had no other connection to New Jersey.

Telebright withheld New Jersey income tax from the employee's salary and remitted it to the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The division of taxation determined that Telebright was required to file New Jersey corporate business tax returns because it was “doing business” in New Jersey. The Tax Court upheld the decision and Telebright appealed arguing Due Process and Commerce Clause violations. The court rejected Telebright's claims.

According to the court, Telebright had sufficient minimum contacts with New Jersey to satisfy due process because the employee worked for Telebright on a full-time basis in New Jersey and both the employee and Telebright had legal protections in New Jersey.

Further, the court found that the substantial nexus prong of the Commerce Clause was satisfied because the employee wrote a portion of Telebright's software product in New Jersey and Telebright benefited from all the protections afforded to the employee under New Jersey law.

Nexus and Other States.

A majority of states share New Jersey's conclusion that employing one person in the state is not de minimis, but rather, could create substantial nexus with the state.

According to the BNA 2012 Survey of State Tax Departments, 35 states reported that nexus would result for an out-of-state employer that permits an employee to telecommute from a home within their borders and who performs non-solicitation activities. Several states indicated that their answer would remain the same even if the corporation made no sales in the state or the employee telecommuted for only part of his or her total work time.

According to the survey, only six states said telecommuting would not trigger nexus for an out-of-state employer. Those states are Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

Telecommuting Incentives After Telebright.

After Telebright, it would seem that employers would have little incentive to allow telecommuting.

However, “[t]here are many advantages to having employees telecommute including employee morale, retaining the best and brightest for your workforce (as was the case with Telebright), reduced expenses for office space and furniture, as well as the expense of retraining a skilled worker should they need to telecommute rather than be in the physical office,” Kristie Lowery, a partner in Ernst & Young's Employment Tax Advisory Services, told BNA in an email Sept. 20.

“In addition,” Lowery said, “there are various financial and tax incentives available for expenses incurred in creating or maintaining a telecommuting workforce strategy (or plan).”

In a webinar, “Roadblocks to Telecommuting: State Tax Policies That Can Prevent Companies From Maximizing Telecommuting Advantages,” held Sept. 20, Nicole Belson Goloboff, legislative adviser for Telework Coalition, said that “employers that implement telecommuting can reduce their overhead costs, such as rent and utilities, because they have fewer employees on-site every day.”

Other benefits of telecommuting for employers include reducing travel expenses, increasing productivity, and increasing efficiency. Absenteeism is decreased because employees can take care of family needs, such as a sick child, instead of taking a whole day off, Goloboff said. In addition, recruitment costs are reduced, recruitment results are improved, and turnover and associated costs are reduced.

Further, Goloboff said at the webinar, treating telecommuting as a basis for nexus validates telecommuting as a business practice that benefits employers and implicitly rejects the common misperception that telecommuting is an employee perk or accommodation.

Out-of-state companies would be forced to limit their telecommuting programs and lose the business benefits of telecommuting, Goloboff said. Further, Goloboff said, the nexus policy would limit sales of in-state companies by prolonging the unemployment of jobless residents in the state.

Cost-Benefit Analysis.

“In light of the New Jersey Telebright decision, employers should perform a cost-benefit analysis in states in which they do not have a presence for corporate income tax filing purposes to determine whether it is cost-effective for employees to telecommute in such states,” Cristina Schrob, director of PricewaterhouseCoopers' State and Local Tax (SALT) practice, told BNA in an email Sept. 20.

“For example, one employee telecommuting in a particular state could result in a significant corporate income tax liability,” Schrob said.

Companies should learn the law in the telecommuter's jurisdiction and learn how the tax department in that jurisdiction will treat telecommuting, Goloboff said.

Jaime Yesnowitz, principal with Grant Thornton LLP in Washington, told BNA in an email Sept. 20 that “[e]mployers might respond to this decision by being more vigilant in requiring employees that telecommute to report where the work will be completed.” Some employers may instruct employees not to take work home with them if they live in a jurisdiction in which corporate income tax nexus does not exist.

At the very least, following Telebright, employers will be more cognizant of the potential corporation income tax issues that might arise by employing telecommuters, Yesnowitz said. While the holding in Telebright could chill certain telecommuting arrangements, employees and employers that embrace telecommuting will want to preserve these arrangements due to the non-tax benefits that telecommuting provides, and tweaks to an existing telecommuting policy may ensure that telecommuting remains an option in most situations, Yesnowitz said.

Strategies for Minimizing Exposure.

Most employers know they have an issue and are concerned, especially given the need for state revenues these days, Lowery said. In today's environment, regardless of the industry or amount of travel, most employers are working to understand their historical exposure, entering into voluntary disclosure agreements for those states within which they have significant exposure from a historical standpoint, and finally working to become compliant going forward.

Without compliance, many employers recognize that not only can the liability create significant tax penalties and interest for the company, but it can impact a company's ability to do business as well as ultimately impact the mobile employee workforce from a personal liability standpoint, Lowery said.

Some corporate employers maintain a policy by which employees are only permitted to telecommute if the employer is already registered for corporate income tax and state income tax withholding in a particular state or locality, Schrob, said.

“This process mitigates the potential corporate income tax as well as sales and use tax nexus in additional jurisdictions,” Schrob said.

More specifically, “a telecommuting policy that requires employees to report where their work will be performed makes sense,” Yesnowitz said. “The policy allows employers to properly withhold state income tax from their employees and can serve to prevent employers from becoming subject to tax obligations in states in which employees telecommute.”

Huddleston suggested that state legislatures would be very responsive to business interests that want to establish de minimis exceptions for telecommuters. By granting a de minimis exception to the corporate employer, a state could bring in more sales tax revenue from residents who telecommute than the small amount of corporate income apportioned to them.

Another solution might be the Multistate Tax Commission's model statute,Factor Presence Nexus Standard for Business Activity Taxes, Huddleston said. Under the model law, nexus is triggered for contact with a state only if certain thresholds are exceeded during the tax period for property ($50,000), payroll ($50,000), or sales ($500,000), or a percentage of the total for each. However, it would be unlikely for a company to put someone in a state with income below $50,000, Huddleston said.

Federal Legislation.

The proposed federal Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act (S.B. 1811, H.R. 5615) could possibly provide incentive to companies to offer more telecommuting options to employees. The bill would eliminate the “convenience of the employer” test, which requires all of an employee's income to be allocated to the employer's location unless the employee can prove that work performed away from the employer's location was due to the necessity of the employer rather than the convenience of the employee.

The bill would require a nonresident individual to be physically present in a state before the state could apply its tax laws to the compensation earned by the individual while working in the state.

“While the bill does not cover corporation income tax issues, passage of the bill would provide corporations based in a 'convenience of the employer’ state a number of tangible benefits, including an additional pool of potential workers that otherwise would not choose to work for a company based in a 'convenience of the employer’ state,” Yesnowitz said.

In addition, the removal of the “convenience of the employer” test would eliminate the requirement that the employer consider whether the “convenience” test is being met, thus eliminating the issue of whether the employer should withhold state income tax imposed by the nonresident state, Yesnowitz said.

Although the proposed federal legislation would alleviate the withholding issue, it would not relieve the employer of the potential corporate tax liability resulting from an employee telecommuting (and, therefore, performing services) in his or her resident state, Schrob noted.

The issue for corporations that want to offer telecommuting as an option is clearly based on compliance, Huddleston said. The issue is not one to be readily solved by federal legislation, he said.

Copyright 2012, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.

http://www.bna.com/case-study-state-n17179870351/

The Perks of Working From Home

If you’re part of the 86% who drive to work every day, you can devise ways to lower your gas costs, save time and improve your health — by telecommuting.

The current workforce totals more than 128 million people, and while eight out of 10 people say they would like to work from home, only half are able to cut out their average 25.1-minute commutes.

If all workers who wish to telecommute were able to at least 50% of the time, the oil saved would amount to one-third of America’s Persian Gulf imports.

SEE ALSO: 5 Excellent Productivity Tools for Remote Workers

The infographic below, from CarInsurance.org , details the benefits of telecommuting. What is your stance on remote workplaces? Tell us in the comments.

1. http://mashable.com/2012/10/17/telecommuting-perks/

Benefits of Telecommuting, a CompanyPerspective

One of the things that makes Surge unique is the fact that we are a 100% telecommuting company. And although it is true that having employees spread out all over the country does create some unique challenges, it is also true that it creates some incredibly powerful benefits.

One of the amazing things about this day and age, for better or for worse, is just how connected we all are. From mobile devices, to multiple means of keeping in touch with one another, never before have we had so many different tools to stay in-touch. Now, sometimes these tools can be overbearing, in that there is value in unplugging from time to time. However, for the most part, these tools equip us to be able to work (practically) anywhere and anytime.

For knowledge workers, this creates a unique opportunity. That is, the tools needed to complete knowledge work are readily available. In fact, most knowledge work these days is accomplished on little more than consumer-grade tools. Whether we are talking about software development, design, testing, or the other functions that go into creating digital products and services, the ubiquity of tools mean that knowledge workers are not dependent upon a company to provide them the resources required to get their job done. In a telecommuting environment, everyone works on a BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) status, which suits most people just fine. Gone are the days of needing a company’s (often vast) resources to accomplish one’s work tasks. Now, with little more than a notebook, some open source tools, and a text editor, a developer can build great software. Indeed, the era of “Have MacBook, will travel” is surely upon us.

Challenges of a 100% Telecommuting Environment

Even though we have a myriad of tools and resources available to us, there are challenges in running a 100% telecommuting environment. Most of these challenges break down into the two C’s, Culture and Communication. Not that there aren’t other challenges, just like there are with any business, but time and time again we find most of our challenges can be couched in one of these two areas.

Culture is a difficult thing to build when you have a group of people who do not occupy the same physical space (not to mention even the same time zone). Often, most communication is purely task or project-based, which can strip out any sort of company culture. One of the great things about a 100% telecommuting environment is the focus is on the work, and little else, all the time. This creates a very low-stress environment for people to work in, in that it is free of interruptions, office politics, and the various undesirable side-effects that come from working in a standard office environment. However, when most communication is strictly business it can be easy for people to forget about the larger team they are playing for. In a telecommuting environment, it can often feel like everyone is simply an army of one, little more than mercenaries for hire. Because of this, extra care and concern must be made to engage people as a team, and help remind people of the bigger picture of what they are doing. Working alone, solely focused on your own work, it can be easy to adopt a myopic attitude towards what you are doing. To combat this, it is important to make sure to include people in more than just their function, if to only see how the sausage gets made, and how their work impacts not only other people on the project (and vice versa), but also the project itself (as well as the client).

Communication issues are a little easier to address. That is, with everyone spread around, it can be easy to have people get out of touch, sometimes creating holes in project work. To combat this, we adopt an attitude of over-communicating. Maintaining transparency with what everyone is doing does not happen by accident, and in my view, I would rather have our people know too much about what people are doing than too little.

Benefits of Telecommuting

To most people, the obvious benefits of having all employees telecommute boil down to simple cost-savings measures. That is, it is easy to imagine the benefits of having no need for expensive office space, furniture, support staff, and other resources that are needed to create and maintain a typical office environment. However, in my opinion, these advantages are minor. Where the benefits really come in are in two main areas, quality of life and the ability to hire (and retain) amazing people.

In my opinion, the formula of expecting (smart) people to get dressed up, sit in traffic, and spend eight (plus) hours a day in a cubicle does not make a lot of sense anymore. More and more, high-quality knowledge workers are realizing they do not have to do this. Plus, for many workers in larger cities (especially in California), rising rents and property prices mean either having to live further and further away from work, or making other sacrifices about the kind of home they can afford. Just “making it” in larger cities is getting harder and harder (especially for the younger generations). More and more, people are finding the trade-offs involved in big-city living (especially for people with families), just aren’t worth it. Plus, what I think telecommuting proves is that these things are not only not worth it, they are not necessary. That is, who wouldn’t want a zero minute commute, and the ability set their schedule to the hours when the work is flowing (rather than something arbitrary like eight to five)? From personal experience I can tell you one big group that does want (and value) this flexibility; smart people.

By offering a 100% telecommuting environment, not only do we free people up to live wherever they want, but also wherever they are. By de-coupling where they live with where they work, our people have total freedom to live where/how they want. Plus, we can hire the most amazing people we can find, no matter where they are located.

In my opinion, that is the best part of telecommuting, it removes artificial limitations that keep amazing people from doing amazing work. At Surge, we build amazing software by hiring and retaining amazing people and setting them up to do amazing things. By offering a 100% telecommuting environment, we allow our people focus on the work, and we have found that by doing this, magic can, and often does, happen.

About Matt MacKay

Matt is the Founder and CEO of Surge. Under his leadership and direction the company has grown into a multi-million dollar software consulting and technology firm providing products and professional services to clients ranging from small startups to Fortune 500 companies.

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Want to learn more about how Surge can help you bring your software product idea to life? Contact us , or submit a quote request today and we will get back in touch with you immediately.

http://www.surgeforward.com/benefits-of-telecommuting-a-company-perspective/

Telecommuting, flexible time trump traditional 9 to 5

BY DIANE JERMYN

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Oct. 09 2012, 4:00 PM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 10 2012, 6:33 AM EDT

When Monique Dunlap, a human resources consultant for the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, worked part-time from home for two years after her maternity leave, she didn't care much for the negative attitudes some people had about telecommuters.

“I kept myself very on track, so I didn't like hearing, ‘Oh, I guess your laundry is always done,'” says Ms. Dunlap, who telecommuted because of an office space crunch. “I felt like I had to prove that I wasn't grocery shopping or doing nothing instead of working.”

Typically, most of Canada's Top 100 Employers offer a range of alternative work arrangements, including flexible hours, telecommuting, job sharing, shortened workweek options and reduced summer hours. While some prefer a traditional workday with set start and end times – Ms. Dunlap felt like she was never off the clock working at home – Employees are increasingly embracing more flexible arrangements as a better way of balancing work with their personal lives.

At the University of New Brunswick, flexible arrangements have been offered for at least 13 years – as long as Peter McDougall, associate vice-president of human resources and organizational development, has worked there. So how is it working? “The anecdotal information is that with the right person, it's highly productive,” says Mr. McDougall, who has served as an army officer. “I think that's the real qualifier. It's like self check-outs at the grocery store. It could be open to abuse with the wrong people. The key is to have a good situation going into it and a mature work relationship – not in age necessarily, but confidence in the person.”

At UNB, flexible work arrangements are negotiated between employees and their managers as long as they don't negatively affect other operations. There's no “one size fits all” solution, just like at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, headquartered in Toronto, where flexible work schedules have been evolving for some time.

Flex hours enable Kerry Jameson, a senior director for employee programs and policies at CIBC, to leave early when she needs to coach her daughter's soccer team. Depending on the day, she may log in later to get the work done or may come in early knowing that she'll leave early. While she doesn't track her hours – she “basically does whatever is needed to do to get the job done” – she makes sure to be accessible to her office team of specialists and gives them the same sort of latitude for scheduling.

“We focus on flexibility rather than flex hours,” says Andrea Nalyzyty, human resources vice-president of employee relations, policy and governance, who's in charge of CIBC's flex policy. “We look at the line of business, then the role and the individual. We try to meet our employees' personal needs while still meeting the business requirements.”

Not every role is as suited to flexibility. But while a bank teller would not have the same flexibility as someone working in a back office, CIBC still offers alternative work arrangements such as extended or weekend hours, part-time or flexible scheduling.

While managers have had to learn some new tools on managing remotely, Ms. Nalyzyty reports they're not seeing a decrease in productivity and are seeing an increase for some; it depends on the person and their role.

Of the three top employers interviewed for this story, Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc., a provider of Shaw Internet and home phone services, was the most flexible on flexibility. Many of their workers have young families, so flexibility is critical, particularly as a recruitment tool, says Mark Porter, senior vice-president of human resources for Shaw.

Employees are encouraged to set hours that work best for them and the organization. Then Shaw allows those individuals to work it out with their managers and each other. While Shaw may set a total amount of time, such as 37.5 hours weekly, Mr. Porter says they don't set times for when people start or finish.

“It's our belief that the traditional working hours of nine to five have effectively gone anyway,” Mr. Porter says. “It's a little more challenging working that out with our call centres, but we do that mainly on an individual basis.We treat people as adults and the majority of time, nobody abuses it. People understand they have a job to do.”

Tips on telecommuting

• Get dressed like you’re going to work. You’ll feel more professional than spending the day in pyjama pants.

• Set up your workspace in a quiet area of your home, away from TV, the kids’ toys and barking dogs.

• If your team works remotely, meet by phone or require everyone to come into the office at least once or twice a month to keep up the team dynamics.

• Keep regular hours as much as possible.

• Turn off your mobile devices occasionally so you’re not on call 24/7.

Telework from the Broadband Provider Pespective

Last week I attended the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA) Industry Showcase. I was particularly interested in their telework tract, especially after talking to Dave Bickettfrom Park Region/Otter Tail Telecom about their Fergus Falls telework initiative at the MTA Annual Conference in the spring. Dave was presenting at the Industry Showcase this time – and was kind enough to share his presentation.

It was nice to get an update on what’s happening in Fergus Falls – but also instructive for any community interested in pursuing telework in their area too. There was a lot of talk from attendees about how telework provides opportunities for local residents but also provides great draw for folks looking to relocate. As several people pointed out – you no longer have to wait to retire to move to beautiful areas outside the Twin Cities (or Chicago or Tokyo!).

At the conference we also heard from Walt Stolrzyk, who has teleworked for several years now. He gave some pros:

• Less travel
• Less sickness
• Less
• Cost
• Productivity in emergencies (no more fire drills, stay home with sick kids)

And he gave some cons:

• Different distractions
• More dependent on technology
• Limited to local provider
• Need back up when technology fails

He clearly was a big fan of teleworking and it had worked well for him and for his company.

We also heard from Larry Kugler from Olsen Thielen. He was sort of the exception that proved the rule. He was very negative about teleworking. He seemed to think that workers wouldn’t work as well or as collaboratively from home. He said the key was communication and seemed to feel that only face-to-face communication would suffice. Then he made some comparison to a football game from 1967, which I have to admit was wasted on me – because I’m not a football fan and I definitely wouldn’t recall anything from a football game from 1967. So maybe his presentation did indicate that telework may not be for everyone – but I don’t think the issue is the technology, it’s the people.

Also for those of us who are proponents of telework, it was heartening to see the audience defend telework. At least a third of the room had a story to share of successful telework initiatives in their office and several were clearly taken aback with his take on telework.

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Is Telecommuting Right for Your Business?

Technology has reached the point where many employees can work from their home offices just as effectively as they can from the company office. While certain businesses and jobs require a staffed office, it may surprise you to learn just how many jobs can be done remotely. Larger companies generally have roles, such as call center representative or inside sales agents, whose work can be performed outside of the office.

Take Jet Blue for example, where 1,800 of its 2,100 Customer Support crewmembers work from their Salt Lake City-based homes (read more here ). The work-from-home model, created during JetBlue’s earliest days as a company, works well for those who seek flexible schedules and the comfort of working from home, and allows the company to ramp up or down quickly depending on operational needs.

Telecommuting is now listed as a “Best Perks” category in Fortune’s list of Top 100 Companies to Work For . Industry giants like Cisco lead the way with 90% of their workforce telecommuting and telecommuting is becoming more common in big businesses for a few reasons.  The underlying technology that enables telecommuting has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years. The ubiquity of high-speed internet, as well as a host of online collaboration tools has made it easy to be very productive regardless of geography. But it is not just the technology; it is the new generation of employees as well. Generation Y (and to a great extent, X) have grown up in a connected world where the internet is pervasive and they are used to working with the net-connected “smart” devices.

Benefits of a Telecommuting Workforce

Savings

Having employees work from their homes helps to reduces overhead expenses such as leased office space, utilities, and other shared costs. While there may be an initial technology investment required to get employees up and running from home offices, the long-term operational cost savings typically offset these set-up costs. Employees also realize personal time savings as a result of eliminated commute to and from the office.

Efficiency

A surprising find is that telecommuters often experience boosts in productivity. This goes along with the saying “a happy worker is a productive worker” and this theory works on a few levels. Employees feel that their managers trust them to work remotely and achieve their defined business objectives, and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. Jet Blue claims that after switching to home based customer service agents the company saw an immediate 25% increase in productivity .

Teamwork is Easier than Ever

Online collaboration tools have made it very easy to work remotely.  Software such as Google Docs allows multiple users to work on a variety of documents at the same time; Dropbox allows sharing of files and folders among computers and mobile devices; GoToMeeting enables users to share their desktops to share information live and co-create. With the addition of a webcam, real-time face-to-face collaboration is still possible with your manager, team, and clients.

Potential Challenges of a Telecommuting Workforce

Less Control

Telecommuting requires managers to relinquish some of their control. There is no chance for a manager to stroll the halls to check on employees and this lack of control can be unsettling to some. Telecommuters can also be harder to reach if problems arise. Even with the improved technology, users still have to rely on it as an intermediary and it’s no substitute for an informal drop-in to an office to hash out a problem.

Telecommuting Requires the Right Fit

Not every employee is suited for telecommuting. A recent study of telecommuting trends by the Monthly Labor Review shows that the highest percentage of telecommuters have a B.A. or higher. One might infer that these college graduates tend to be more driven and passionate about their work, and they can ultimately be more trusted to produce quality work from wherever they are. While many jobs can be worked from home, the right fit needs to be found with the employee.

Performance Monitoring Can be Difficult

Employees working from home generally do not adhere to a classic 9-5 schedule, and tracking the number of hours worked for non-exempt employees can be a challenge. For this reason, salaried workers tend to make up a large percentage of telecommuting jobs. While time tracking software is available to monitor workers’ activities and to ensure that they are staying on task, this type of “big brother” tracking infringes on the autonomy and flexibility that most telecommuters are seeking. Inside sales that are commission-based is a good example of a telecommuting job where performance can be easily monitored without time tracking.

Telecommuting is only going to become more popular as technologies continue to improve and tech-savvy professionals become the norm. There are economic and intangible benefits to both the employer and the employee. However, there are some potential drawbacks that need to be carefully considered when determining whether telecommuting is a good option or not. The pros and cons should be weighed before a business begins moving positions to a telecommuting arrangement.

Guest authored by Miles Hall , who loves writing about the business world. He contributes to businessbroker.net, and is primarily interested in businesses for sale .

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Tags: emergent , flexible work arrangement , flexible workforce , jesse jacoby ,jetblue , miles hall , remote work force , telecommuting , work from home