Are Telecommuting and Flextime Dead?

There is always a sprinkling of articles in the national press about telecommuting when gas prices soar. Rather obviously, when the price of gas goes up, cutting down on commuting seems like an even better idea than it usually does.

PERCEPTIONS VS. REALITY

Telecommuting, flextime,

and to a lesser extent, job-sharing haven't received as much press as they once did. Add to that the industries that can't offer flexible work (retail, for example) and worker jitters about asking for too much in an era of downsizing and off-shoring, and it's easy to get the impression that telecommuting and flextime are no longer realistic options-if they ever were.

In 1994, one study, "Flextime: Myth or Reality?" published in Indiana University's Business Horizons (Sept/Oct 1994), showed that flextime wasn't available to many employees. According to the study, only 14 percent of employers interviewed offered the benefit at all, and some of those programs were quite limited.