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Telecommuting Responds to Environmental Concerns
Telecommuting or telework has been found to be an easy and effective step to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Studied conducted in the United States have found that telework can efficiently cut the country’s dependency on foreign oil as less citizens will travel or use oil-powered vehicles to drive or commute to work. As such the balance of trade as well as economic and other national security issues associated with such dependence will be addressed.
Looking back at how telework started, it was before the industrial revolution that workforce started working from home, usually in family-owned farms. When new technologies emerged and the need for steam engines and assembly lines require workers to move to a central workstation, pollution and urban congestion started to grow. Secondary problems like social breakdown and crimes also emerged. Fortunately, another form of revolution was introduced in the latter part of the 20th century. Computer and telecommunications technology were developed and introduced as part of information revolution. This allowed the workforce to choose their homes as their work place.
Among the other technology sources used to make telework or telecommuting work efficiently are video conferencing calling, WAV files, voice over internet protocol or VOIP, virtual private networks, and database sharing software. The Internet has given telecommuting full support.
And although this alternative form of employment was not immediately accepted by companies, the growing concern for environmental protection as well as tight budget in business and employment satisfaction prompted more and more companies to embrace the idea of telecommuting. The government also took part in encouraging companies to telework as amendment in the Clean Air Act required larger businesses to offer the telework option. Pollution will be reduced significantly if more people would prefer to work from home in addition to car-pooling and use of public transportation as means to reduce single-occupant commuting.
Imagine the world saving 14 million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions and 840 million gallons of gas every year. This already happened in 2001 as reported in the research on telecommuting conducted by Tiax, LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts. We made it possible 9 years ago; it would be better if we could make this happen every year, right?
Aside from responding to the growing environmental concerns, telecommuting also presents other advantages. When instituted properly, telecommuting can reduce business costs, increase employee productivity and boost employee satisfaction. Telework also expands the labor pool as parents who need to take care of young children, the disabled, and professionals from other countries can work and put their talents and skills to use. Decentralizing the workforce would also imply less vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
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