Telework in the United States has grown from 3.4 million people in 1990 to 28 million in 2001. A nationwide survey by the International Telework Association and Council in 2001 found that 21.2% of the adult workforce over the age of 18 teleworked for a full day at least once a week from home, a telework center or on the road.
There is little evidence that telework has caught on in the San Joaquin Valley. Some of our jobs, like tending crops and manufacturing, are not suitable for telework. But the number of office jobs is large and growing. And we have many residents who spend hours commuting to offices in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The average round trip commute in the U.S. is one hour. One gallon of gasoline generates 19.6 pounds of CO2 when burned. If the typical commuter's car gets 24 miles per gallon, they are putting 49 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere every day. Every commute trip avoided is 49 fewer pounds of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Businesses and government agencies have found that telework can bring many benefits beyond trip reduction:
- Recruit top talent. The best workers look for companies with flexible work rules. The Dallas Museum of Art's highly respected curator lives in Basel, Switzerland.
- Retain experienced workers. When a sick parent required a senior programmer to move out of state, Hewlett-Packard retained his skills by allowing him to telework.
- Increase productivity. The State of California's program experienced productivity increases of 10% to 30%. Such gains are not unusual for well-designed telework programs.
- Conserve office space. Pacific Bell was growing rapidly at its San Ramon headquarters and needed more space. They encouraged employees to telecommute from home, saving $9 million in the first year by not having to lease additional space.
Three technical trends are making telework more attractive;
- High-speed, always-on, connections allow remote workers to feel like they are connected directly to the office network;
- Secure, Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are easier to install, more reliable and cheaper;
- New software tools for distributed teams facilitate collaboration across time and space.
In the last two years high-speed networks have been widely deployed in the San Joaquin Valley. Most residents along the Highway 99 corridor, in Tracy and in Los Baños can now get cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless broadband services at rates that are competitive with Silicon Valley and Los Angeles.
Studies show that the biggest barrier to telework is managers who believe their employees will not work unless they are being watched. The solution is to design a telework program that identifies the most appropriate jobs and individuals for telework, and provides training for both teleworkers and managers. Established formulas allow employers to calculate the financial benefits of a telework program in terms of increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, and reduced office and parking space requirements.
The following are a few California-based organizations with telework programs:
CalPERS
Charles Schwab
Cisco Systems
Hewlett-Packard
Intel
Sacramento County
San Bernadino County
State of California
Telework programs will not solve the Valley's air quality challenges, but they will help and they make good business sense.
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