Productive relationships are what make a business go. We all hear people either at the office or the supermarket and I know I’ve said myself that there are simply not enough hours in the day. What if I told you that your business could save money and shave wasted time from your already jam-packed day? Think of all the things you could do with an extra hour in your day.
The simple answer to this conundrum is telecommuting. According to analysis done of U.S. Census Bureau data by consultancy Global Workplace Analysis of San Diego, the overall telecommuter population has grown by nearly 80 percent from 2005 to today. It is estimated that more than three million Americans view their home as their primary place of work.
Take the city of Houston, Texas, for example. From 2012 to 2013, its telecommuting workforce has increased by more than 100 percent. Houston’s population of young, tech-savvy workers and historically awful traffic illustrate the two biggest reasons why people are making a move toward telecommuting.
As Brie Reynolds, director for online content for FlexJobs states, "Houston is interesting because it's a combination of all the reasons we see telecommuting grow.”
Reynolds believes that with the right employees, telecommuting is quite a beneficial option. With tools that exist today, like Web conferencing and other conference call services, collaboration and communication remain high, and with the right parameters in place “…telecommuters can be more productive than in-office workers.”
Houston is a paradigm for a trend happening across the United States. By offering telecommuting, team members are able to balance life and work in a way new to industry. It should come as no surprise that nearly 75 percent of the “100 Best Places to Work” offer some form of telecommuting option.
This type of benefit package expands the pool of candidates for open positions and reduces the cost of commuting while maintaining a business-as-usual state of mind. Just because something is different or new doesn’t make it scary or bad, and enterprises across the globe are finally starting to catch on.