A study from an online community aimed at assisting federal government teleworkers found federal employees spend an average of 245 hours of their life commuting each year. By teleworking two days per week this average federal employee would get 98 hours of their life back.
If all eligible federal employees telework two days per week they would realize 73.7 million hours collectively back in their lives each year. With average savings of an hour per day, full-time teleworkers can earn a masters in business administration 35 percent faster, read 25 books in a year, clean out 83 closets, or train for a marathon with the time saved by not commuting.
The financial and environmental commuting costs, and related telework savings, are also tremendous. According to study responses, the average federal employee, who commutes five days a week, disperses eight tons of pollutants into the environment and spends $10,580 commuting to and from work annually.
On average, this spending consists of 16 percent of their after-tax income. Survey responses indicate that if all eligible federal employees telework two days per week, the federal workforce would realize collective savings of $3.3 billion and 2.7 million tons of pollutants not dispersed into the environment each year.
While federal employees are interested in teleworking, barriers remain. Of federal employees interested but not presently teleworking, only five percent can name their agency’s telework coordinator. In addition, 56 percent report their agency has a telework plan, but only 21 percent believe they can readily access that plan. According to Office of Personnel Management, close to 100 percent of agencies have a telework plan.
“The findings of the study clearly indicate the need for improved access to telework programs and continued telework education in the federal government,” says Stephen W.T. O’Keeffe, executive director of the Telework Exchange. “We are committed to supporting telework initiatives in the federal government by providing a forum for the exchange of teleworking technology and best practices between the private and public sectors.”
The Telework Exchange No Free Ride Study is based on a survey of approximately 3,500 federal government employees registered to the Telework Exchange Web site. The study is based on the Telework Exchange’s Web site registrants’ non-personal commuting and teleworking information.
