The Best Valentine's Day Factoid You'll Hear Today
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Posted 14 Feb, 2012
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Telecommuting's Powerful Benefits
More than 34 million Americans telecommute on an occasional basis at the least. While it may not be for everyone, the future of telework appears bright.
Here's an interesting bit of trivia on this Valentine's Day: According to a recent survey, 5 percent of Americans would dump their spouse in exchange for being able to telecommute. Of course, 5 percent of any group of people surveyed would probably dump their spouse in exchange for a ham sandwich or a candy bar. Be that as it may, this particular survey was pretty revealing.
- Social media (34 percent)
- Texting (30 percent)
- Chocolate (29 percent)
- Smartphone (25 percent)
- Shopping (20 percent)
- A salary increase (17 percent)
- Half of vacation days (15 percent)
- Daily showers (12 percent)
In case you're curious, women were more willing than men to give up daily showers (14 percent vs. 10 percent). I have no idea what to make of that. But back to the willingness to dump a spouse: According to the survey, the 5 percent figure was fairly consistent between men and women and across age groups, but not across regions. Seven percent of respondents in the West said they would trade their spouse for the ability to telecommute, while only 2 percent of respondents in the Midwest would do so.
I don't know what the figure is for the East Coast, which is where I live. This is coming to you from my loft office in our cozy apartment in Maine, so I already enjoy that perk. And for the record, my wife and I are celebrating our 38th wedding anniversary today. I wouldn't give her up for anything. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
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George Alexander
says:
hmmm....I'm unable to find a single thing I would give up for telecommuting. Not even something as simple as burgers. I drive around 2.5 to 3 hours back and forth everyday (Texas) to be 5 minutes away from my wife's work place. I got used to it and distract myself listening to podcasts, news or music. I've thought of park'n ride options but that would increase my commute by half an hour and still have around an hour's drive. Since I have a 9ish-5 job, it hasn't been as bad as it can get or maybe I just have high tolerence. I spent 3 hours commuting with 2 hours on trains and subways in New York but I killed time by reading something. My shortest commutes were less than 30 minutes both ways in CT and FL and I had telecommuting options during those stints. I guess my unlucky stars don't let me get them when I need them.
And that 5% that would dump their spouse for telecomuting - very depressing.
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mdarif sadik
says:
Laura
says:
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I wonder if that 5% is a reflection of how badly these individuals want to telecommute, or how easily they'd give up their spouses. Either way, telecommuting is clearly on the rise, and it will be interesting to see if it becomes much more widely adopted in 2012. Telecommuting could revolutionize the workplace.
Sarah
Mosaic Technology
http://www.mosaictec.com
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