Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Science
When I say “telecommuting,” do you picture yourself easing into the workday in a pair of fuzzy slippers? Well, so does your boss. But the reality is, you’re both dreaming. Because a new study shows that folks who work at home at least some of the time put in more hours than those who stay at the office. That’s according to work published in the journal Monthly Labor Review. [Mary C. Noonan and Jennifer L. Glass, The hard truth about telecommuting]
Telecommuting for a portion of the workweek certain has its appeal. Avoiding the time and cost involved in commuting and presumably having a more flexible schedule and a better work-life balance are all potential pluses. But are employees really able to take advantage of such work-at-home perks?
Researchers took advantage of labor information from census bureau surveys and were surprised by what they found. First off, the proportion of people who work remotely remained unchanged from the mid-’90s to the mid-2000s the most recent data available. Second, those who do telecommute are more likely to work overtime, an additional 5 to 7 hours on top of the standard 40.
Which means that people who work from the comfort of home are not slackers in slippers. They’re more likely tech-savvy self-starters—who don’t know when to stop.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
See what we're tweeting about
7 Comments
Add CommentRemove a stressful 45 minute each-way commute then staying an extra 30 or 60 minutes seems feasible. When you don't have to take time off to come home to let in workmen or deliveries, you can stay productive. When you don't have to fight lunch lines at the cafeteria you can get back to the zone quicker. When you don't have to come home for school holidays or to be there for sick kids you can put in more work hours.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is sad most business leaders think imprisoning workers in an uncomfortable place is how to achieve productivity.
While its true there is no substitute for occasional face time, with today's cheap communications technology, part time telecommuting is a win win win for workers, businesses, and gridlock in congested cities!
When you have the ability to work from home the Zeigarnik Effect can drive you to complete tasks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMore work hours does not translate to more productivity. There are many distractions at home. It depends upon the person and the job or task at hand as to whether they're better in an office environment or at home. It also doesn't take into account how human interaction between peers can enhance value of their shared product. Furthermore, why should workers pay for their own office space 'at home' !? More cost shifting from business to customers and workers.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI always believed in "separation of church and state" and successfully resisted my company's trend of issuing laptops to enable work at home. My commute was a relaxing hour on the subway and train, reading and schmoozing with my train buddies. Fortunately I retired just before the onslaught of the electronic leashes of laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou're right there are many distractions at home and it does depend on the person. However, there are also many distractions at work as well. Workers have to use the same time-management skills in either forum. What do you mean by 'human interaction'? With Skype I can see and hear my peers and even my boss as if they were sitting next to me. For group settings we use HipChat and all conversations are recorded. Sure my company is saving money by not having to provide a place for me to sit for 8 hours (while that space is wasted for the other 16) but they provide me with internet and a computer. I don't really feel like that is a cost shift that I should be concerned about.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI was more productive when I worked during the period that most other staff were on holiday.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo phone,no people wandering in and out.
No chatter from other people in the room.
My holidays were better, a lot less of the drivers who must get from A to B in the shortest possible time.
Telecommuting was far in the future.
Anyone here used a Sliderule for doing sums?
It's bad enough that the Monthly Labor Review (MLR) study was paid for with our tax dollars, but it's even worse that those who quote it--particularly a scientific publication--haven't bothered to ask some basic questions about its validity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere are some of the more glaring problems with the study:
1) The research is based on data from 1997 to 2004. Weren't we still using pagers back then?
2) Isn't it possible that the kind of people who take work home and work extra hours are the same people who are most likely to telecommute? Telecommuters are among the highest paid, trusted, and engaged employees [The State of Telework in the US. Yes, we published it, but the 100+ footnotes show that it is based on solid research and actual facts].
3) The average half-time telecommuter saves 12 days a year by not driving to work [Workshifting: The Bottom Line Benefits]. Yes, that takes into account that not all driving is reduced with telework.
4) Ninety percent of teleworkers feel being able to work flexibly improves their quality of life. It's about flexibility and being better able to both have a job and have a life.
5) Taking work home to work on your own time, the criteria in the MLR study, is not telecommuting.
By the way, I'm not saying that some teleworkers don't work harder. Research shows they give back an average of 50 to 60% of the time they'd have otherwise spent commuting, for example. That still leaves another 40 to 50% of commute time savings.