When Casual Friday Means Pajamas

More employees encouraged to telecommute, work short weeks

Posted at 3:20 PM on 30 May 2008

Employers across the country are offering workers the option to telecommute or work a four-day week to help cut down on fuel costs. Compressed work weeks are particularly attractive to employees who work in places without reliable mass transit -- especially since a 10-hour day can mean coming in early and leaving late enough to avoid rush hour traffic. As an added bonus, offices find that fewer employees on site means lessened energy costs. And allowing workers to cut down on commuting can also increase morale. "As the price of gas rises, the level of grumbling rises," says a spokesperson for Kent State University, where 78 of 94 custodial staff have taken the option of a shortened work week. In a survey of U.S. workers released Thursday, 44 percent of respondents reported having changed the way they commute, up from 34 percent a year ago.

sources: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal
see also, in Grist: How to green your commute

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Comments: (3 comments)

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Plus

Today is Drive Nowhere Day. So skip that bothersome drive to work by telecommuting! Or you could always walk/bike/take the bus/subway.

by Ashley Braun at 3:28 PM on 30 May 2008

Best of all worlds

The best commute is none at all. With inflation increasing, workers may also want to trade hours for pay increases. Get the same salary but for 30 hours work (minimum for keeping benefits).

by jabailo at 6:53 PM on 30 May 2008

Or maybe 20?

You know, all all the "health care" reforms that the candidates are touting, probably the most useful would in fact be to allow people to get full time benefits even if they work less than 30 hours. So, someone could take a minimum hours, but high wage job for 10 hours a week and still get health, 401k etc.

We really need to make our workstyle fit in with the idea that almost all of us are becoming a form of knowledge worker...even a Wal*Mart employee may find ways to doing a job more efficiently and he should be allowed to work less and keep his current salary with time off as a bonus...

by jabailo at 10:01 AM on 31 May 2008
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