Save the earth: don't go to work
The RAC Foundation is specifically appealing to the business community to stay home. Telecommute, that is. RAC estimates that fully half of all UK workers work in information technology of some sort, which can generally be done from any location (and trust me, I have). There's no reason, they argue, to have those people clogging up the roads needlessly. If all IT workers stayed home one day a week, it would cut emissions by 1%, and eliminate 1.7 million car trips. RAC also asks companies to teleconference and videoconference, have internal blogs and wikis, and generally make it easier for people to get information without having to go over and ask Johnson for it.
Speaking as someone who has telecommuted 95% of the time, the rare occasions where I am demanded to be on site are generally still goofy. Any job that can be done with a computer can be done in a bathrobe on a beach. Go home! [GT]
RAC Foundation [via Tech Digest]
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Hi Gabrielle,
Thanks for taking an interest in our research on smarter working, and for your support for our key message.
The 50% figure relates to "information workers" rather than specifically IT workers, and so can include a variety of jobs from PR to technical writing - basically, anyone who manipulates knowledge rather than raw materials. We hope that they will all feel empowered to ask for flexible working rather than being tied to a desk.
Best wishes,
Sheila Rainger
Posted by: Sheila Rainger | October 29, 2006 5:46 PM