Telework week may save $2.5M in commuting costs

Workforce

Telework week may save $2.5M in commuting costs

More than 28,000 workers in the WTOP listening area pledged to work at home during National Telework Week.

Federal News Network Staff

February 15, 2011 11:40 am

1 min read

Evan Haning, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – More than 28,000 workers in the WTOP listening area pledged to work at home during National Telework Week.

If they all follow through this week, these teleworkers will save an estimated $2,517,082 in commuting costs, according to the Telework Exchange, a public-profit partnership which promotes teleworking.

“If everyone teleworked one day a week for a year, we would collectively save $65,450,019,” says Cindy Auten, Telework Exchange general manager.

Travel costs and extra time at home are obvious advantages to teleworkers themselves, but Auten says more employers are starting to see how telework can benefit them.

“It increases the talent pool. You can now recruit people from all over the country, in fact, from all over the world.”

Snowstorms and gridlock are less disruptive when workers can “phone it in.”

“There was a water main break in D.C. a few weeks ago. Office buildings were closed down. This is a great way to keep your business functioning,” says Auten.

The need for less office space and upkeep is another plus for employers in both the public and private sector.

To highlight the attractions of telework, Telework Exchange announced its first Telework Turf Award winner, Mika J. Cross, a U.S. Department of Agriculture worker who lives in Waldorf, Md.

In this video, Cross gives a tour of her home office where she works from two days a week.