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Telecommuting is on the rise for better or worse. There are many other issuces, but telecomuting can reduce traffic and some fuel. I would not mind doing it 1-2 days a week.

MSNBC Story (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11825397/)

My wife is going to be able to do some of that once we get the router hooked up and working. Alot of her companies employees do work from home. They come into the office when there is a meeting and other than that they do everything from home for the office.

Terry

I was able to burn off about 12 hours/week telecommuting in a past job. It rocks...until the kids wake up. But you always get to return to it, no fear about having to run errands, etc.

If you're not the type who can remain focused with distractions or the comforts of home around, then it may not be a good idea. It definitely tested my ability to "keep my eye on the ball."

Now I at least have flextime, so I only go in 4 days/week most weeks. 20% fuel savings right there!

Hi All:

___Although my job is more of a hands on position, my wife has tele-commuted a day or so a month in the past and it has worked out excellent. Except for the fact that if you can telecommute, who is to say the $2.30/hour employee from India cannot do the same? That is the scary part imho.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Actually, they're up to $5/hr now...the average technology worker in India makes about $800 (in US dollars) a month - and that's enough to feed / house / clothe the young Indian, with discretionary income to boot (think: clubbing), plus money left over for savings.

I've told people here where I work - telecommuting is going to get *big* in the coming years - it makes such financial sense to both parties. Employers and employees alike can take advantage of the 'virtual' office, and then there's the item all of *us* think about - less oil / traffic.

The irony, as I think of it, is that we pretty much invented the technologies that made telecommuting possible (I help extend it to the workforce at my employer, and use it myself), and we are now being displaced using those same technologies. Part of the catalyst for this, of course, is the disparity in wages between workers here and offshore, along with the degradation of the education system in this country, compared to the fuller investments in same made in those other countries.

As an aside, I've learned over the last week that the outsourcing of my IT organization will commence on June 1st (not to India). Not a surprise - we've known this has been coming for awhile now - you can't outsource an organization the size of ours on a dime or a whim. It doesn't remove the bitter taste in my mouth, however. Anyone need the services of a telecom engineer ? LOL BTW, I'm not mentioning this to elicit sympathy, but just because it seemed related to the topic.

Green&Blue,

I am concerned about that kind of telecommuting. :eek: :eek: :eek:

The ones doing the offshoring (the most dreaded word in my vocabulary) deserve getting their own positions swept away.

Green&Blue,

I am concerned about that kind of telecommuting. :eek: :eek: :eek:

The ones doing the offshoring (the most dreaded word in my vocabulary) deserve getting their own positions swept away.
Delta,

One word from me on your last comment:AMEN !!!

Terry

I telecommuted about 95% for the job I had about two years ago. I only went in to the datacenter about 1 day a month, and that was largely just out of boredom and desire to see who was left there. I'm pretty well self-motivated, so getting my job done was never a problem. I loved it and would be happy to take a pay cut to do a job where all else was equal, save the ability to work from home instead of going in to the office. At least with my current job it's only 8 miles and takes me barely even 15 minutes. More like 12 if I make all green lights.

As an aside, I've learned over the last week that the outsourcing of my IT organization will commence on June 1st (not to India). Not a surprise - we've known this has been coming for awhile now - you can't outsource an organization the size of ours on a dime or a whim. It doesn't remove the bitter taste in my mouth, however.
I was outsourced about two years ago (yeah the WFH was when I was working for the company our department got oursourced to) and the company basically worked to shift all our jobs from their US subsidiary to their Indian subsidiary. None of us were real happy about it, but there's nothing you can do. A bunch of us left (supposedly over 50% left or were laid off within 2 years of the outsourcing) and the stories I've heard are that the Indians can't do anywhere near as good a job, even with 2 or 3 times as many of them per server. I suppose you get what you pay for sometimes. ;)

So at any rate, I'm still working in IT, making more money than ever with the shortest commute (other than WFH) I've had since getting in to IT and I'm not really all that worried. Everything I've read indicates they're already pretty much hired everyone that's any good at IT and there's enough horror stories that many US companies are afraid to send anything overseas in the first place, especially critical ops like their IT. Its an ever-changing world, but I don't predict any economic disasters due to oursourcing.