Remote Work Might Pay Off During H1N1 Threat

Yankee Group survey results from April show workers to be highly receptive to a mobile lifestyle:  Fewer than 50 percent of respondents believe their work needs to be completed at their primary workplace.

And 58 percent of workers strongly agree that "allowing employees to work from home benefits companies." Employees who work from headquarters locations are just as likely to think that teleworking is a good idea as those who already are teleworkers.

With the H1N1 virus threat reaching global pandemic status and growing talk of the need to avoid large public gatherings where possible, the value of organized remote work capabilities is obvious.

Not every job can be done as effectively on a remote basis as in a physically co-located mode. But many more jobs can. As it turns out, remote work is not just an employee satisfaction enhancer, a cost reducer and in some cases a productivity-boosting measure, it also provides protection from pandemics and other potential disruptions of civil life.