Talking Talent

I’ve mentioned before that teleworking could be one of the solutions to Australia’s climate change challenge.

This week alone, 32 million Americans could be telecommuting at least one day. They would not drive 1.2 billion miles – which is equal to 51,000 times round the Earth.

Additionally, by not wasting time being stuck in traffic, telecommuters could be more productive for the equivalent of 4 million extra workdays during this one week alone. Productivity improvements, typical for telecommuters, would provide a bottom line benefit to the US economy of $311 billion yearly.

A Canadian company called Teletrips Inc capitalises on the benefits of telecommuting by engaging companies in a work from home program. Companies that allow their employees to work from home can calculate the greenhouse gas emission savings, which are then credited to the employer. Emission credits are tradable on a market and thus earn employers money.

The project offers flexibility for workers, earning potential for employers and a bonus for the environment. For example an employee commuting 40 kilometres could save 8.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide by avoiding one trip to work.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 8:21 am and is filed under teleworking.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.