Telecommuting Boosts Morale, Cuts Stress

By Patricia Reaney

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tired of traffic jams, late trains, packed buses?
Telecommuting can be a big plus for workers and employers because it boosts
morale and job satisfaction and cuts stress, researchers said on
Monday.


In an analysis of 46 studies on telecommuting, researchers found that working
away from the office by using computers, cell phones or other electronic
equipment can have more pluses than negatives for people and the companies that
employ them.


“Our results show that telecommuting has an overall beneficial effect because
the arrangement provides employees with more control over how they do their
work,” said Dr Ravi Gajendran of Pennsylvania State University.


“Telecommuting seems to have some mildly positive effects on employee morale,
on work-family balance and on stress,” he added in an interview.


Gajendran and David Harrison, who reported their findings in the journal of
Applied Psychology, studied data on 12,833 telecommuters who spend time working
away from the office.


Telecommuting has been a growing trend in the United States since about 2000.
Last year an estimated 45 million Americans telecommuted, an increase of 4
million from 2003, according to the magazine WorldatWork.


Gajendran believes the numbers will continue to grow as access to broadband
increases.


“Over the last couple of years there has been a spike, especially in the
number of people who are regularly telecommuting. By regularly I mean people who
are telecommuting at least once a month,” he said.


“There has almost been a 60 percent increase in those numbers.”


Although some companies and workers feared telecommuting could hamper career
prospects or lead to a breakdown in relationships with managers and co-workers,
the researchers found no evidence to support it.


“Telecommuting by and large does not have any negative relational outcomes as
has been commonly believed,” said Gajendran.


There was also no evidence that telecommuting stymied career
development.


Telecommuting also has added benefits, according to the researchers, because
it cuts commuting costs and relieves congestion on inner city transport systems,
as well as traffic on roads.


“If you could save a long commute, say two days a week or maybe even one, you
will see substantial costs saving as well as substantial reductions in terms of
pollution,” Gajendran explained.

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Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing addresses the technology needs of small businesses, which are defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees and/or less than $7 million in annual sales.

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