How do we feel about wasting $100M each day to pay government employees for sitting at home in the snow? Well not great. Especially when President Obama advised all government offices, last year, to implement strategies for teleworking in these exact situations, and an alarmingly low percentage have complied. The president is working right now despite the snow. Most of his staff are also working, from home. Reportedly the resistance to telecommuting comes from management in most cases. Managers feel they can't keep a handle on their staff when they can't see what they're doing. But with all the advances in technology, wide spread workforces and environmental responsibilities, public agencies as well as private corporations really need to recognize the benefits of telecommuting. eBay was originally a pioneer in telecommuting programs but recently shocked us by permanently pulling their entire remote customer service workforce back into regional offices. The program was a small percentage of their full workforce but was comprised of several hundred employees who were able to work without driving 9 out of every ten work days. This sort of step backward confuses us and makes us wonder what they'll do next. What do our readers see are the advantages and disadvantages of having a remote workforce? We'd love to hear your opinions.
-Flora
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