THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 23, 1995 TAG: 9503230003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The main reason family members spend so much time apart is work - including getting to and from it. Despite all the talk about the importance of family values to society, there is too little discussion of ways work might be changed to promote family togetherness.
In 1993, two congressmen looked at one way many federal employees could spend more time at home. Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-Va., and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., got up $6 million in start-up money for telecommuting centers in Winchester and Fredericksburg in Virginia and Hagerstown and La Plata in Maryland.
Those are offices where federal employees who normally commute to Washington, D.C., can work one or more days a week. The 143 workers from 20 different federal agencies who used the telecommuting centers saved an average of 102 miles of round-trip driving each day, about 2 hours and 40 minutes on the road.
Recently the General Services Administration, which manages government property, recommended in a report to Congress that telecommuting centers be opened in 30 cities with regional federal offices, including Baltimore and Norfolk. The GSA was sufficiently enthusiastic about the work of the first telecommuters to recommend that 60,000 federal employers be telecommuters by 1997.
Some people who work in Washington, D.C., live and have families in Hampton Roads. They commute to the capital early Monday and drag home late Friday. If they could work at a local telecommuting center Mondays and Fridays, or better, all five work days, the time with their families would increase dramatically.
If a telecommuting center were opened in Virginia Beach or Chesapeake, many federal workers who commute to downtown Norfolk might work nearer their homes, saving up to an hour of driving a day and lessening traffic on the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway.
The telecommuting centers have the same computers that employees would use if they drove to their offices. Their work can be transmitted electronically to the central offices. In most cases, a boss at the central office can determine an employee's output.
A telecommuting center should be opened here. Less travel means less air pollution, calmer nerves and more time for children. Minutes become precious when both parents work.
Also, Hampton Roads has a large number of military spouses who are underemployed. With a local federal telecommuting center, more spouses might find work commensurate with their skills, because they could look for federal jobs over a wider area.
If family values are as important as everyone (including us) says, state and federal governments and private employers should all seek ways for workers to spend more time with their families.
As Mr. Wolf told The Washington Post, ``Telecommuting is an innovative and farsighted idea that (allows) families to spend time together, yet still increases productivity.''
The GSA estimated that 5 million Americans work away from central offices - usually at home - at least one day a week. For home workers, the commute is from one room of the house to another. Where that's impossible, a short commute to a telecommuting center is a good idea. by CNB