More Americans want out of commuting
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2015-06-17
Given a choice between working at home with less pay and the daily commute with its traffic hassles and lost time, about one-third of Americans would take the less-pay option, according to a survey sponsored by the Positively Broadband web site. In a new white paper titled, “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere: The Changing Face of Work,” Positively Broadband aims at uncovering the potential of e-work and telecommuting to drive the next wave of broadband development.
The web site is maintained by the Information Technology Association of America.
Harris N. Miller, President of the Association, reckons that the desire to avoid commuting on a daily basis will drive the push towards broadband internet connections over the next few years. “Studies show the frustration of slow speed network connections is one of the biggest show stoppers to widespread adoption of e-work," says Miller. "If employers feel that their employees are losing productivity at home, they will shun this option. The good news is that high speed Internet access is now widely available. Putting broadband and e-work together is a winning combination.”
The study found that 54% of Americans feel that telecommuting would improve the quality of their lives. For these respondents that spent more than one hour commuting each day the number jumped to 66%. About one third would forego pay if offered the opportunity to telecommute.
Almost half (46%) thought that the quality of their work would improve if they could telecommute. Almost half thought they would be a better parent or spouse. Loss of contact with their fellow workers was a significant concern for about one in five respondents.
The study also concluded that networking from home or the road would also open up demand for large-scale file-sharing, working in collaborative teams, videoconferencing, webcasting and other applications that make physical location irrelevant to getting the job done.
A copy of the survey results and new white paper are available on the web at www.positivelybroadband.org. The survey, which was conducted by the Winston Group, polled 1000 registered voters in April, 2002.
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