The concept of telecommuting—or more specifically the use of technology to replace the daily commute—hasn't really caught on the way its advocates have hoped. Yes, more and more companies are allowing occasional home-based work, but the reality is that only a few million U.S. employees consider home their primary place of work.  

We recently spoke to Kate Lister, co-author of Undress For Success—The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home (Wiley, 2009), about the future of telecommuting. She predicts that a combination of factors including the ubiquitous availability of high speed broadband, economic recovery, environmental concerns, and workforce shortages will conspire to create a perfect storm for telecommuting over the next ten years. 

Kate has reviewed over 250 studies on telework and related topics. She's interviewed dozens of virtual employers, employees, advocates, and even venture capitalists that have invested in the remote work model. And she developed a free web-based Telework Savings Calculator (http://undress4success.com/research/telework-savings-calculator/) to hammer home the potential benefits of telecommuting. Here's what the Calculator shows for the whole U.S.:

Currently only three percent of the U.S. workforce currently telecommutes the majority of the time (not including the self-employed), but 40 percent hold jobs that could be done from home. If those employees who could telework did so just half of the time (roughly the national average for those who already do):

- The nation would save 453 million barrels of oil (57 percent of Gulf oil imports)—a national savings of $31 billion per year (at $70/barrel)

- The environment would be saved from 84 million tons or greenhouse gases a year, the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road.

- The energy potential from the gas savings alone would total than twice what the U.S. produces from all renewable energy source combined.

- National productivity would increase by 6.2 million man-years or $200 billion worth of work each year.

- Businesses would save $194 billion annually in real estate, electricity, absenteeism, and turnover.

- Employees would individually save between $2,500 and $11,000 in transportation and work-related costs. In addition, many would also be able to cut daycare and eldercare costs (collectively $316 Billion)

Based on the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey figures and data from over a dozen authoritative studies, the Calculator quantifies what every city, county, region, Congressional District, and State in the nation could save through telecommuting. A custom calculator page allows companies to change dozens of our standard assumptions to better model their own situations.

Undress For Success—The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home (http://undress4success.com/store/undress_for_success_the_book/) is a popular press book aimed at empowering employees to negotiate, find, or create work-at-home jobs, freelance work, or home-based businesses. It has won the praise of work-life and telework advocates including the Telework Coalition, Telework Canada, WorldatWork, and many others.

To read more about the who, what, why, where and how of telecommuting for companies, communities, and individuals, visit http://Undress4Success.com.