Economic Benefit of Telecommuting

Program Overview

Humphrey School researchers are working to provide evidence to employers that implementing workforce flexibility initiatives improves their bottom line. Flexible work arrangements, such as Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) and telework, are a win-win-win proposition for employers, employees, and communities. Current research focuses on the employer benefits of a flexible work arrangement (e.g., increased worker productivity, facility cost savings and savings related to worker recruitment and retention), but the benefits of this policy reach beyond the employer. For employees, flexible work arrangements save time and money in commuting, and workers experience greater work-life balance and greater quality of health and well-being. Communities benefit from decreased in traffic congestion and, thereby, a decrease in overall pollution. (Previous research has documented that ROWE and telecommuting lead to less vehicle travel, as reported by eWorkPlace and the Urban Partnership Agreement).

The Institute is looking to partner with three to five organizations that are implementing a flexible work policy at the departmental or organizational level. Researchers will work with each organization to develop individualized measurements of productivity, retention, and facility costs/savings. The goal is to measure change over time in these three elements using a baseline test and post-test using two instruments (the first would be an employee survey on employee perceptions of productivity, job satisfaction, and retention; the second would be organization-, unit-, and employee-level data on productivity, retention, and facility cost savings). The research also will gauge the perception of effectiveness of the policy through interviews with management-level employees.