Have you ever wanted to work from home? I know that I have! As technology integrates itself more and more into our lives, the possibilities for changing the way that work is done seems endless. One way that change will (hopefully!) happen, is by increasing the amount of workers who telecommute.
There are, as with pretty much everything, some pros and cons to telecommuting. Some of the pros include:
- Saving money - having workers do their tasks at home means that firms can cut down on the size of the offices that they would need to maintain a workforce. It may even mean that they will not have to have a mortgage or lease agreement at all - depending on the industry.
- Work can be done from anywhere. If worker man Bob remembers something at midnight, he doesn't have to wait until the next day to make the change or addition.
- Environmentally friendly - fewer or smaller office buildings would mean less pollution and less land taken away from wildlife.
- Of course, there is also the personal happiness and well-being that office workers would feel from working in an environment that they feel comfortable in (Personally, flourescent lighting always depresses me, and leaves me feeling drained)
- Distractions - will your kids, pets, significant others, the TV, friends, or whatever be distracting you from your duties?
- Do you have the space at home to set up a virtual office with all of the equipment that may be needed? Is this space used by others who may result in the afermentioned distractions?
- Are you the type of person who can manage yourself? Will you be able to handle working from home, or will you be too tempted to just go watch TV or something instead?
- Do you work with sensitive information that people may not want to have left out for any one to see?
- If you have a problem with your computer system, or an office machine - you will not have the option of calling IT to come and fix the problem.
