Obama win good news for telework

November 17, 2:49 PMNY Telework ExaminerCarl Weinschenk

Previous

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the NY Telework Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The election of Barack Obama is good news for telework advocates.

The new president has a lot of his plate, so no work is likely right off the bat on such a mundane topic as getting people to not travel to their offices. However, once the economic crisisis confronted, the president and his staff will be able to turn to some longer term goals.

Energy independence and the end of reliance on foreign oil was a centerpiece of Obama’s campaign. A parallel effort is a massive reduction of demand. That’s where telework comes in.

The great part is that several constituencies have the same goal, albeit for slightly different reasons. The work force sees telework as a way to save time, eliminate the nuisance of long commutes and save money. Environmentalists see it as a way to reduce the pollution caused by the burning of gallon upon gallon of fuel on roads during rush hour. Folks whose mandate is reducing the amount of fuel we import from South America, the Middle East and elsewhere clearly want to cut down on those traffic jams as well.

So everyone is on the same team. The government, seeking to lead by example, already has in place a fairly ambitious telework and telecommuting for federal workers. The problem is that many of the mandates have not been fulfilled. Expect that to change.

More importantly, I expect telework to be encouraged as an element of overall efforts to reduce use of fossil fuels. It won’t be a high profile item, but the government will provide incentives—tax credits and other incentives—as they encourage organizations to find ways to keep their people off the roads.