The alarm goes off at 7:30 a.m. for an 8 a.m. work start time. You’re in Atlanta and the morning commute is ghastly but you’re not worried about getting to work on time. Why? Because you’re one of the city’s teleworkers. Your daily commute involves a walk to the computer and a flick of the power switch – voila, you’re at work!

 

Does this sound ideal? I know it does to me and evidently it is appealing to more and more Atlanta workers. The 2010 Metro Atlanta Regional Commuter Survey reveals that 27 percent of commuters telecommute at least occasionally, this is up from 20 percent in 2007. A surprising 7 percent of commuters telework a minimum of three days a week. While 7 percent doesn’t sound like much, telecommuting is still a growing trend and is far from the norm.

 

Other results from the survey include:

“We were really pleased to see teleworking make such significant gains in the region,” said Kevin Green, executive director of The Clean Air Campaign, “but we weren’t necessarily surprised.  Getting telework to be accepted by more employers as a workplace strategy has been a major emphasis for our organization and its partners.  It’s great to see that work paying off.  Telework is a ‘win-win’ strategy whose time has come.” Source: The Clean Air Campaign

With the recent nasty winter weather in Atlanta, companies with teleworkers were able to continue with business as usual while those without telecommuting opportunities suffered from reduced productivity. In fact, snowed in Mother Nature Network employees were able to work from home – keeping the fresh eco news coming despite the snow and ice.

 

Although this survey was specific to the Atlanta region, I know that telecommuting is becoming popular in major metropolitan areas across the nation.