Employees Can Get A Raise Without Companies Spending A Dime? It’s Only One Of The Benefits Of Supporting A Remote Workforce

If you figure an average worker travels 20 miles both ways to and from work, that equals 200 miles a week, 10,000 miles a year. A car getting 20 MPG will use 500 gallons of gas; with a national average of $4 a gallon, an employee sees an immediate $2,000 “raise” in the money not spent on gas.

Date: July 29, 2008

Category: Everything Else

20080729- Photo 1 Guy on Computer That was one of the surprising outcomes of a conference held recently in St. Louis sponsored by the St. Louis HDI chapter at which Barnes-Jewish Hospital reported on an extensive survey they completed regarding the working remotely issue.

Here’s how the “raise” issue works: If you figure an average worker travels 20 miles both ways to and from work, that equals 200 miles a week, 10,000 miles a year. A car getting 20 MPG will use 500 gallons of gas; with a national average of $4 a gallon, an employee sees an immediate $2,000 “raise” in the money not spent on gas.

With predictions that gas could eventually reach $5 a gallon or more, that “raise” factor grows. And that doesn’t even take into account the predictions that oil could hit $150 to $200 a barrel in the next few years — with no major new sources of energy coming on line in the foreseeable future — gas rationing might also be a possibility, making getting to work even more arduous… and the gas savings leaving even more money in the employee’s pocket.

In St. Louis, when Highway 40 shut down last year, businesses along that corridor were forced to consider alternatives so their employees could do their work even if they couldn’t get to work. The concept of working remotely took on a whole new meaning.

There are several other factors to also consider when thinking of remote workers, the BJC report noted:

Space demands: For every remote user you employ companies save on average 200-250 square feet. With tightening budgets, and growing space needs, this could be a significant cost savings.
Retaining experience: Great employees move, retire, become ill. Having the option of employees working remotely allows you to hold onto a valuable knowledge base.
Skills availability: You open yourself up to a wider candidate pool. If your employee can work anywhere in the country, and you have a wider group of people to choose from. The best person in a city of 3 million will likely not be the best in the entire country.
Increased productivity: BJC found an increase in productivity working from home and they choose average workers to pilot their program not superstars.
Work/life balance: Employees save travel time coming in and going home; they can work in comfortable clothes. Work/Life balance is better.

BECOMING COMMONPLACE?

It appears that working remotely is becoming more common than many believe:

In 2006 there were 12.4 million full time or part time employees working from home. That number goes to 29 million if you include contractors.
The U.S. government has mandated any employee that can work from home shall. In 2005 20 percent of all government workers worked from home.
A 2007 study of 120 IT executives by Nemertes Research revealed that more than 80 percent of companies have at least some employees who work away from their supervisor and/or workgroups; on average they classify 27 percent of their employees as “virtual”.

GET PREPARED, NOW

In a recent article in IT Dojo, Head Technology Editor Bill Detwiler issued a call to action for all IT administrators: “Prepare to support more remote workers”, either by companies having more dispersed locations or allowing employees to work from home. Creating a distributed workforce could ease the financial difficulties some employees are facing as their transportation costs skyrocket.

While remote workers are not news in the IT field, the need to discuss remote staff has greater urgency today.

“Start preparing now”, says Detwiler. Companies and their IT leaders should:

Ensure their infrastructure has the capacity to support increased demand.
Make certain your network can support existing remote workplace technologies.
Develop the skills and techniques required to manage a distributed workforce.

Whether a temporary or permanent solution for your company, don’t neglect the human side of this decision. How will you introduce the concept? Who will and won’t be eligible? How will you maintain loyalty, a sense of being part of a company or team? You want to keep your people productive and on your side. Don’t let gas prices destroy the group you worked so hard to build.