Employees tend to like telecommuting, but our nation’s bosses have been harder to win over. That’s beginning to change:
44 percent of U.S. companies offered at least some telecommuting options last year, up from 32 percent in 2001, according to a survey of 1,043 large employers by Mercer Human Resources Consulting. In the post-9/11 era, corporate America views a work force that can function remotely as a strategic advantage, experts say. “The reason I think it’s gaining momentum is because of natural-disaster preparedness,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of the New York-based Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit that researches work force trends for corporations. Ms. Galinsky said it was the less centralized companies that were up and running fastest in the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.