More Americans working away from the office

More Americans working away from the office

An increasing number of Americans are working away from company offices and using broadband services to help them do their jobs, according to results of a study conducted by a Milwaukee company for ITAC, the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork in Scottsdale, Az.
“The ability for people to work from anywhere is attributed in part to increasing availability of portable computer and high-speed communication technologies,” said Robert L. Smith of ITAC, in Silver Spring, Md. “For example, the use of broadband in the home by teleworkers increased by over 60% during the past year resulting in 25.6 million home-based teleworkers with high-speed access.”
The national survey was conducted Aug. 15-Sept. 1. Respondents were asked to check up to 13 different locations where they may have conducted work in the past month. The results are based on research conducted for ITAC by The Dieringer Research Group of Milwaukee as part of Dieringer’s 2005 American Interactive Consumer Survey.
The survey found that out of 135.4 million American workers:
• 45.1 million worked from home,
• 24.3 million people worked at client’s or customer’s place of business,
• 20.6 million in their car,
• 16.3 million while on vacation,
• 15.1 million at a park or outdoor location, and
• 7.8 million while on a train or airplane.
Among the 45.1 million Americans working from home, the average number of locations they work from is 3.4.
The survey results show a 30% increase during the past year in employee telecommuters, while self-employed telecommuters decreased by 2%. These findings are possibly the result of a strengthening economy and an increasing acceptance by post-recession employers to permit telework, survey organizers said. Overall, there are 26.1 million people who work from home at least one day a month, and 22.2 million at least once a week.