Working at home and elsewhere: daily work location, telework, and travel among United States knowledge workers

Abstract

The mediation of work practices by information and communication technologies enables knowledge workers to telework from remote non-office locations such as their homes, or to work nomadically from multiple locations in a day. This paper uses data from the American Time Use Survey to explore the relationship between daily work locations and travel in the United States from 2003 to 2017. Outcome variables include travel duration and travel during peak periods. Home is by far the most common non-office work location, but working from other people's homes, cafés/libraries, vehicles, and combinations of multiple locations are also measured. Findings show that working from home only on a day (full-day telework) decreases daily travel duration and increases the likelihood of avoiding peak hour travel for both work and non-work related travel. However, for homeworkers who also conduct work from their workplace on the same day (part-day telework), there is no reduction in daily travel time, and avoiding peak hour travel is limited to work-related travel. Working from other locations such as cafés/libraries or vehicles increases the likelihood of not traveling at peak hours. Findings also indicate that morning peak periods are more affected by work location decisions than evening peak periods. A survival analysis of daily departure times for both full-day and part-day homeworkers provides insight into this mechanism. We conclude on the basis of these findings that demand management policies and peak avoidance incentives would be more effective if they encourage both temporal and spatial flexibility for employees when partnering with regional employers.

Factors influencing home-based telework in Hanoi (Vietnam) during and after the COVID-19 era

“…Similarly, Santana and Cobo ( 2020 ) state that telework entails performing work in locations distant from main offices or production buildings based on telecommunication between teleworkers and their co-workers. The place of telework can be a satellite office closer to home compared with the conventional workplace (Mannering and Mokhtarian 1995 ), a public transport vehicle or a station (Gripsrud and Hjorthol 2012 ), a café or a library (Stiles and Smart 2020 ); yet the most common (Stiles 2020 ) and (perhaps) perfect alternative to the workplace must be the home because the proliferation of ICT has made it a communication hub well suited for working electronically (Hjorthol and Gripsrud 2009 ). This is reflected by the major concentration of prior studies on HBT (Santana and Cobo 2020 ).…”

“…Additionally, more people can be employed. Because of a variety of potential advantages, working from home has attracted the assiduous attention of researchers from a host of developed countries (e.g., the Netherlands [Muhammad et al 2007], Great Britain [Cerqueira et al 2020], France [Aguilera et al 2016], Turkey [Iscan and Naktiyok 2005], Finland [Helminen and Ristimäki 2007], Korea [Kim et al 2015], Canada [Tremblay 2002;Wilton et al 2011], and the US [Pendyala et al 1991;Singh et al 2013;Stiles and Smart 2020]), and a few developing countries such as China (Loo and Wang 2018) and Taiwan (Yen 2000).…”

Perception and Preference for Home-Based Telework in the COVID-19 Era: A Gender-Based Analysis in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…However, beyond transport-specific merits, telecommuting can bring about a host of multifaceted benefits for societies. Employees, owing to saving travel time and avoiding stress at the workplace, can gain greater working performances, higher job satisfaction, a better balance between work and life responsibilities, and more active transport [18][19][20][21]. In parallel, cities may face fewer congestions and less pollution, resulting from fewer vehicle kilometers traveled [22,23].…”

“…It is important to note that a good perception may lead to a preference, and thus a decision on re-adopting teleworking. In this sense, analyzing perception and preference is vital for studying the prevalence of HBT post-COVID- 19.…”

Flexible Work Arrangements: A Human Resource Development Tool to Reduce Turnover

“…The recent 20-year history of telework was predicated by technology which advanced from the days of dial-up Internet to employment that is capable of functioning whether at work or home, or somewhere in between while in transit or on vacation (Stiles, 2019). Never has this been more evident than during COVID-19, when seemingly overnight, every portion of the economy that was able began working from home via cell phone, computer, teleconference, and similar devices.…”