The majority of U.S. workers want it all, saying that splitting their time between home and the office is the ideal work arrangement, according to the results of a productivity survey released July 19 by the Hudson Employment Index, a New York-based staffing solutions firm.
Fifty-nine percent of the 1,911 respondents believed that telecommuting at least part-time is the perfect work set-up, including the 38 percent that said their ideal work environment would include a mix of working from home and the office and the 21 percent who responded always at home.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they preferred to always work at their companys offices, despite the fact that 85 percent of this group had workplaces that gave them telecommuting options.
Despite an overarching interest in working at least part-time from home, only 20 percent felt they were the most productive there, while nearly two-thirds (63 percent) considered themselves the most productive at the office or another job site.
The study also shed some light on when and where U.S. workers are getting their tasks done.
Most dont begin their work-related tasks until they arrive at the office, with 73 percent reporting that they rarely or never talk on the phone, take part in conference calls or check e-mail while commuting. Only 8 percent said they did so daily.
The vast majority of commute times are less than 30 minutes, according to the study, with 32 percent of respondents reporting that they spend 15 to 30 minutes commuting to work, and 31 percent saying less than 15 minutes on a typical day. Only 7 percent responded that they spend more than an hour on a typical days commute.