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[Nickbat]

The petition on the Prime Minister's website said:

   "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reduce the need for office-based workers to commute to work each day." "Millions of unnecessary daily journeys to work could be eliminated through effective use of broadband technologies, virtual private networks, home working and also flexible working hours. Both employers and employees could be given tax incentives to reduce or eliminate commuting."

The government has responded with:

    "The Government is keen to encourage flexible working (working at the most suitable time and place for the task, rather than teleconferencing) but recognises that it is for companies and individuals to work out how best to deliver this.
    
    The Department for Transport, through the Smarter Choices programme, encourages employers to develop workplace travel plans, aimed at reducing car use for travel to work and for travel to business. A plan is typically a package of practical measures to encourage staff to choose alternatives to single-occupancy car use and to reduce the need to travel at all for their work, including teleconferencing and teleworking where appropriate.
    
    Although we are keen to encourage people in this way, we recognise that not all jobs are amenable to teleworking; personal service occupations such as restaurant waiting staff, for example. Direct incentives to those who are in a position to telework might therefore be an incentive to the favoured minority, given that personal service workers tend to be at the lower end of the earnings spectrum. Similarly not all homes are suitable for use as personal office space and, again it will tend to be those at the end of the earnings spectrum who live in the least suitable properties. Any encouragement of teleworking also needs to ensure that, in removing commuting journeys from peoples' lives, it does not contribute in the long term to urban sprawl, as people choose to live further from town or city centres.
    
    There are tax incentives to encourage employees to take up sustainable travel plans but these do not currently include teleworking."

If it wasn't for the writer of this piece, I would have continued to live in the belief that a restaurant waiter could easily work from home.

Our taxes clearly aren't wasted when we have such great intellectuals in power kindly sharing their wisdom with us.

Planks.

[Nickbat]

I telework and it's bl**dy marvellous. I get to see far more of the kids than other dads and I don't have to face commuting. It's clearly worthwhile for SOME jobs, but as my first post inferred it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that many jobs are not suitable. But if you COULD telework, would you?

[MikeDundee]

I telework and it's bl**dy marvellous. I get to see far more of the kids than other dads and I don't have to face commuting. It's clearly worthwhile for SOME jobs, but as my first post inferred it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that many jobs are not suitable. But if you COULD telework, would you?

Yes I would, but not really that practical for my job, due to site visits, and numerous meetings. However, I do sometimes work from home.

[TheBoy]

I can, and do.

However, I prefer to go in to the office.  It allows you to better understand and know what your colleagues are doing, as you hear much more than could ever be relayed via IM etc.  Then, any queries about something that I personally wasn't dealing with, I can immediately know and go to the person who was.

I have had the facilities and abilities to work from home for about 10 years, and do so occasionally.

However, teleworking, however well implemented, inhibits teamwork.  So if you work as part of a larger team, rather than as individuals, then it will never be truely effective.

Also, far too many distractions at home, esp for parents.

I am lucky as I have a desk in the office, but can telework on days if I need to.

[Kevin Wood]

I used to work from home 100% of the time. It has its advantages but on the whole I'm happier to have an office to go to now.

It depends what you're doing, IMO. If you've got a job to do that you're really fired up over and ready to get stuck into, then it is great, because you can lock yourself away from everyone and just get on with it. You can devote a lot more of your day to it when you don't have to fit around commuting, eating at certain times, etc.

However, for the other 90% of work that consists of boring, mundane, repetitive tasks it's torture having to chain yourself to your desk and do them while your favourite distractions are all around you.

Much better to be surrounded by other people who are in the same boat in an environment where you're stuck there until 5:30 regardless.

I was living alone when working from home, too, which meant I would go for frightening periods of time without interacting with other people, save for the odd telephone call.


Kevin
 

[TheBoy]

You end up turning into a hermit.

tbh, I can tell the permememt homeworkers I have to deal with without looking up their details. They just seem out of touch....

[Nickbat]

I guess it's all swings and roundabouts. I actually work for myself, so I don't have any co-workers with whom to interact! There are benefits for my clients though, as I do a lot of work during the evenings and weekends meaning that they can give me a job at 5.30 and the completed artwork will be in their inbox when they show up for work at 8.30 the following morning. Oddly, I've worked for one client for the best part of ten years and never ever met their personnel!

TB's right about the hermit bit, though and that is why I do a little part-time work in SWMBO's restaurant - purely to get out and meet people!

But it's great to be able to take my little one to the weeekly parent-and-child morning, even though I'm the only bloke there!

[TheBoy]

I guess it's all swings and roundabouts. I actually work for myself, so I don't have any co-workers with whom to interact! There are benefits for my clients though, as I do a lot of work during the evenings and weekends meaning that they can give me a job at 5.30 and the completed artwork will be in their inbox when they show up for work at 8.30 the following morning. Oddly, I've worked for one client for the best part of ten years and never ever met their personnel!

TB's right about the hermit bit, though and that is why I do a little part-time work in SWMBO's restaurant - purely to get out and meet people!

But it's great to be able to take my little one to the weeekly parent-and-child morning, even though I'm the only bloke there!

It only works for a very small percentage of people imho...   ...for the majority, employer loses too much...