Canadian companies still back telecommuting despite controversy

TORONTO – Ask any Canadian professional who spends five days a week commuting into the office if they have ever dreamt of teleporting and they will likely say yes.

But with commuters in major metropolitan areas of the country spending an average of 30 minutes getting to work each day, it’s hard to blame them.

Unfortunately, despite all of our advances in technology, we have not yet been able to successfully create a teleportation device – but if their employer allows them to telecommute, employees are able to reap the benefits of working from home, including zero commute time.

The practice has come under fire recently, with high profile companies pulling telecommuting privileges from employees.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced late February that the company’s 27,000 employees would no longer be allowed to work from home, citing the fact that employees were not as productive at home as they were in the office.

Shortly after Mayer’s announcement, electronic chain Best Buy announced they were killing their “Results Only Work Environment” (ROWE) program, which allowed employees to work when and where they want as long as they accomplished daily tasks.

Mayer’s decision sparked a lively debate about telecommuting and whether employees who work from home are indeed less productive – but many argue the opposite, that those who work from home work harder and put in more work hours than their office counterparts.

“Sure, not every job is suitable for telecommuting. But for those that are, there are multiple benefits,” wrote Steven Vaughan-Nichols, in a blog post titled “You want me in the office? How 20th century of you.”

Vaughan-Nichols argues that of the 52 minutes on average that Americans spend a day commuting, 225 hours a year, employees who work from home are more likely to log those hours working.

“Most telecommuters I know end up giving that time to their employers. They sit down at their workstation earlier and get up from it later. They aren’t watching the clock but instead working on and completing tasks.”

Canadian employers are still behind the telecommuting movement.

Many of the companies ranked on Canada’s top 100 employer list for 2013 have telecommuting options for employees.

The list cited telecommuting as one of the reasons companyies such as Bank of Canada, L’Oreal Canada, Molson Coors, National Ballet of Canada, and the National Energy board, were chosen as some of the top Canadian employers.

There is little doubt that telecommuting makes jobs more attractive to employees – less travel means more money saved and a lower stress level overall.

Global News spoke was contacted by many people who said telecommuting was a main part of their job – some even working for international companies while in Canada. Many mentioned they were happy working from home, or outside of an office.

Joelle Bezanson jumped at the opportunity to have a home office when telecommuting was offered as an option at her job in a call centre.

Bezanson, who has been working from home since January 2009, is able to work split shifts in order to take care of her son and noted that her stress level is much lower than other call centre employees who work in the office.

“It is much quieter. I can go out on my breaks and work in my garden, hang out a load of laundry, tidy, prepare supper – so many things. It’s like my work now revolves around my life instead of my life revolving around work,” said Bezanson.

Employees also feel more productive working from home, like Vaughan-Nichols mentioned in his blog post, because they feel there are less distractions at home than in the office – despite the belief that the temptation of televisions, pets, or errands would distract telecommuters.

“I am far, far more productive at home than in an office environment,” said Alison Darmon, who has been telecommuting since 2001.

“There is nobody else here to distract me so I can just get on with my work and get it done.”

But telecommuting has perks for employers too.

TravelOnly.com, a Canadian travel company, has over 12 full-time staff members across the country, including directors, VPs, IT managers and marketers, who telecommute every day.

“We are the poster child for a decentralized work force,” said President and CEO of Travel Only Gregory Luciani. “There are challenges but it is one of the greatest secrets to our success.”

A study conducted by the Telework Research Network for WORKShift Calgary determined that if the 4.3 million Canadians with jobs that were able to be done from home began part-time telecommuting, it could save employers over $10,000 per employee.