22 Apr Greening the workplace: AeA endorses telework
Washington, D.C. – CIOs looking to build flexibility in their workforce, and also improve their chance of landing quality IT employees, have a new report to strengthen the business case for “teleworking.”
In conjunction with Earth Day, the American Electronics Association, which represents all segments of the high-tech industry, has released a report endorsing telework, which is the practice of allowing employees to use information technologies to work remotely.
The report, titled “Telework in the Information Age,” characterizes telework as a “win-win-win” situation for employers, workers, and the environment.
“It is a win for employers, who see increased employee productivity, lower overhead costs, and greater access to workers,” said Christopher Hansen, president and CEO of AeA, in a statement released with the report. “It is a win for workers, who can reduce long commute times and strike a better work-life balance
“And most importantly, it is a win for the environment, as fewer commuters on the roads mean reduced fuel consumption, traffic congestion, and air pollution.”
Another benefit for workers would be to stretch the dollars their families spend on gasoline. According to the report, roughly 1.35 billion gallons of fuel worth $4.5 billion at the current average price of $3.33 per gallon could be saved if everyone with the potential to telework did so just 1.6 days per week. The Environmental Protection Agency calculates that this much saved fuel would prevent 26 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere.
Regulatory disruptor
The AeA said federal, state, and local governments could play an assertive role in promoting telework. As the largest governmental body, the federal government in particular can set an example for the private sector by offering telework programs, and it can be motivated in part by the need to maintain continuity of operations in response to a natural disaster or terrorist attack that would otherwise shut down the government.
State and local governments also will also find that telework has cost-cutting and business continuity benefits, and reduces the budgets for office space and public infrastructure improvements, the report said.
Budgetary savings could enable governments to offer telework tax incentives to private-sector employers for the promotion of telework, also known as telecommuting, the AeA noted.
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