It’s time to embrace telecommuting

Employers and the government can help alleviate pollution and traffic, Kathleen Hoelscher says.

Our commutes to and from work are polluting the air we breathe, and they are a colossal waste of time. This is not sustainable.

I see working mothers who Skype their children to bed while in airport lounges. At the same time, thousands of people sit idle in traffic, wishing they could be home. Why? With all that technology has achieved, why aren’t we using it more wisely? Why do more people not work from home, thereby freeing up the roads for necessary travel like getting goods from points A to B? Why are we letting something we call “rush hour” now last up to four hours? Why is that scene in the airport lounge not reversed? Why aren’t we physically putting our children to bed and using Skype for our business meetings?

There is so much work that can be done from people’s own homes and this would reduce travel greatly.

Some people say that they could work from home but prefer going into the office daily. Others say that they need eye contact when discussing important issues. OK then, what about Skype? I know it’s not ideal, but neither is poor air quality.

I’ve heard some people say: “Oh I’m much too social a person to work all alone, from home.” But then I’ve overheard several people on conference calls cracking jokes and filling in the others on what the weather is like where they’re calling from while waiting for all the attendees to be dialed in. It sounded pretty social to me.

So why aren’t there more companies promoting this way of working?

In some instances, it is a matter of trust. Some managers feel that they can only be certain that their employees are truly working if they can observe them at their desk. Well, wouldn’t the deliverables tell the tale? Wouldn’t it be easier for people to meet deadlines if they didn’t have to waste a couple of hours getting to that desk and back?

I think governments need to start rewarding the companies who encourage their workforce to telecommute because of how it will help alleviate air pollution and road congestion.

There will always be work that requires physical presence, such as manufacturing and medicine. But we should be looking carefully at which jobs don’t need everyone to be at the same physical location. There are probably more than we think.

In the last years of my career at Batshaw Youth and Family Centres, I had gone from working in group homes to working with adolescents who were either leaving placement or whom we were trying to avoid placement in the first place. I had some of my most productive family meetings over the phone. A mother wouldn’t have to rush home from work and clean the house because “the worker is coming,” thereby resenting me less. We were able to get straight to business, and the telephone may have afforded some people a comfort zone.

Perhaps it’s time to look at government buildings, embassies and consulates having only email addresses instead of physical addresses. There would be the added benefits of safety against terrorism and cost-saving to the taxpayer.

There are probably many instances where travel could be reduced. And perhaps the people who say they need to go to work for social reasons could get to know their neighbours again.

It’s time to take advantage of how far we’ve come technologically and rethink our workplaces. We need to start soon. Look at our highways between 3 and 7 p.m.: What we’re doing now isn’t really working.