If U.S. employees with compatible jobs (meaning they could work from home) worked remotely for just half the year, the national savings would be greater than $700 billion according to a new infographic from Sure Payroll (below).
The Monetary Benefit of Telecommuting to the Nation
But what if those employees worked from home all the time? That cost savings would double to over $1.4 trillion per year! National productivity would increase by 10 million man-years which equates to $540 billion worth of work! The country’s use of foreign oil would also drop. Oil savings would equal more than 74% of Persian Gulf imports which equates to $128 billion.
The Monetary Benefit of Telecommuting to Companies and Employees
Companies would benefit, too. Based on the data in the infographic, a typical business would save $22,000 per person, per year. Even employees would benefit financially if they could work from home 100% of the time. Each telecommuter would save between $4,000 and $14,000 per year.
The Benefit of Telecommuting to the Environment
The savings don’t stop there. Not only would the national economy, companies, and employees benefit financially, but the environment would also reap the rewards if all eligible employees worked from home all the time. For example, greenhouse gas emissions would be the equivalent of removing nearly 20 million cars off the road for one year.
The Truth is in the Data
With this kind of data, it’s hard to understand how so many companies and executives can argue against telecommuting. It was just over a year and a half ago that Melissa Mayer eliminated telecommuting at Yahoo!
Of course, not all employees are good candidates for telecommuting, but given the cost savings and all of the other benefits, shouldn’t companies make an effort to attract and retain talent that can be more productive and more effective when telecommuting? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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