More telecommuting would decrease traffic, save money

I have been telecommuting for more than four years at this point, and I feel as though it is a very good thing for me, my clients, the community, and the environment. The last thing the freeways need are more and more drivers, and the way the population has exploded in the United States (due to the extreme levels of immigration over the last thirty years) has made it increasingly difficult to get around in many parts of the country.

I am self employed, so my telecommuting is not something that I have to coordinate within a large corporate structure. But, I have a friend who was given the opportunity to telecommute a few months ago after working with her company, which is a very big publicly held concern, for about five years. She was able to move to a beautiful, peaceful small town and keep her job, and she is doing as good a job as ever and in fact, she feels as though she is getting more done. There are no distractions, no successions of people coming into her office to chat, and she wants to prove that she can be trusted, so she is motivated to go the extra mile whenever she can.

Clearly telecommuting is much more convenient for workers who are self-starters with good time management skills, but it is also cost saving for the company. Telecommuters don’t take up office space and add to energy costs. They are also less prone to catching that “bug” that is going around the office that causes sick time.

Telecommuting is a great way to save time and money all around while acquiring more personal freedom, and I think that more and more companies will begin to allow it in the years to come. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the government to offer incentives to companies who reduce the traffic on the roadways by supporting telecommuting.