WHICH Green will We Serve?

Green of the environment, green of the money and time we must invest in the stress, drive, and the hours to retain our income?

It is optimistic for life and environmental balance to hear news of a Rise In Telecommuting Acceptance. But I wonder if this is more of a wishing reality when on todays news on CNN was in regards to the increased volume of traffic on the roads-- that more people, longer commutes, longer distances sounds like we are getting worse not better in our approach to reducing dependence on fuel. Solo drivers increased by nearly 13 Million in the last decade. Of those drivers, 50% are commuting (and polluting) for greater than an hour, causing the workforce to leave their homes earlier in the day-- many between 5 and 6:30 a.m.

Are we working ourselves to death, eroding the environment and working counterproductively to hold on to a tradition of office work that has extended it's value? Sure you will never remove the social requirements of a workforce, but what good could you do from understanding how and what you could do to be better, happier citizens of the workforce?

Telecommuting is hitting the news more and more these days, and a recent InfoWorld Study found that 67% of Human Resource Managers believe the trend will increase in the next 2 years. It is not rocket science to speculate on a trend.. The question is how much are corporations willing to adopt flexibility and compete in the war for talent for abstract benefits, employee loyalty, and a remote manager's workforce skill? Telecommuting is common sense, and for companies that do it well, just another attribute of business as usual.

Employers and Employees CAN experience a new freedom and happiness, environmental and fiscal conservation through
Commuting Programs that lower dependence, on costly and time consuming commute traditions.

What would companies be able to invest in, if they could cut their realestate investment in cubicles by 30%?
Innovating to reduce the number of people that choose to be on the road at the same time would make a bigger difference, eliminating their need to drive to other cities every day, would do much more! More for life balance of telecommuters by choice, more for corporations who care about the environment and well being of their staff. Telecommuting programs can reduce annual emissions from upwards of 27,000 autos - eliminating some 40,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the air!

Flexible Work Options are a key benefit in attracting the right talent. Clearly workers want greater flexibility and fuel costs make this benefit more appealing.. However, Telecommuting is not for everyone, and it is impossible to adapt all management issues to a totally flexible workstyle. We can expect strategic policy, management benchmarking, and statistics to crop up as companies realize that there is alot more they can and should be doing to support a flexible work environment.

Find the Where of your Happiness-- MSN 150 Reasonably Priced Cities , towns to consider for a 21st century Lifestyle.

The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity. Companies that are leading the way are always innovating. This is important for competitive value and for retaining the good talent they have. 100 Best Employers for Working Mothers (More Companies offering flex hours to retain female employees. The top 10 companies that best satisfied the five criteria were:
Abbott Laboratories
Bon Secours Richmond Health System
Ernst & Young LLP
HSBC USA Inc.
IBM Corp.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Patagonia Inc.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP
Principal Financial Group
S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.

Additional Resources:
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Google News: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Telecommuting
A-Z Career Guide - Telecommuter: http://hfcareernetwork.com/a-z.html#T
LinkedIn Telecommuter Professionals Group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Telecommuter_Professionals/