The second annual Telework Week, taking place March 5-9, 2012, encourages businesses, government agencies and individuals to telecommute. Individuals and organizations can visit Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership, to calculate potential commuter cost and environmental savings and to pledge to telework.
"According to a recent report by The Texas Transportation Institute, the average U.S. commuter spends 34 hours a year in traffic, and by 2020 that number will increase to 41 hours," according to Telework Exchange. "Telework Week 2012 demonstrates an opportunity to reduce the amount of traffic on the road, decrease the environmental impact caused by commuting, lessen wear and tear on public transportation and save commuters time and money," the partnership said. Specifically:
- For employers, Telework Week supports workforce productivity, enhanced recruitment and retention, reduced real estate and increased operational efficiency and continuity.
- For federal agencies, Telework Week offers an opportunity to meet legislative mandates by testing telework programs in a pilot situation to ensure requirements are met, in addition to putting business continuity exercises to the test.
“If all full-time wage and salary workers in the U.S. telework two days a week for one year, they would collectively save more than $215 billion in commuting costs,” said Cindy Auten, general manager for Telework Exchange. “Telework savings are substantial, and we want to demonstrate not only why to do it, but how to do it.”