To some US workers, telecommuting is a higher priority than many of life's perks, including raises, vacation time, shopping and social media.
Among 2630 workers surveyed, a significant percentage said they would be willing to make certain sacrifices in order to be able to work from home. Among the amenities they're willing to do without are: social media (cited by 34 per cent), texting (30per cent), chocolate (29 per cent), smartphones (25 per cent), shopping (20 per cent), a salary increase (17 per cent), half of vacation days (15 per cent) and daily showers (12 per cent). A small number (5 per cent) said they'd even be willing to give up their spouse in order to telecommute.
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Harris Interactive conducted the survey on behalf of TeamViewer, a maker of remote access and online meetings software.
The majority of respondents (62 per cent) believe that more people want the option to telecommute, and most (83 per cent) think telecommuting is on the rise. In particular, roughly half of respondents said smartphones and tablets are increasing the use of telecommuting (cited by 53 per cent) and acknowledged that telecommuting is getting easier (49 per cent).
When asked about productivity, 54 per cent said they would be at least somewhat more productive as a telecommuter versus working in an office every day, and 32 per cent said they would be much more productive.
Ann Bednarz covers IT careers, outsourcing and Internet culture for Network World. Follow Ann on Twitter @annbednarz and check out her blog, Occupational Hazards. Her email address is abednarz@nww.com.
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