Telecommuting Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic: How do Families Benefit?

Telecommuting, also termed as e-commuting or more commonly known as work from home (WFH), is defined as working outside the office premise. Because of the outbreak of novel coronavirus, many companies are resorting to allowing their employees to work from home. 

Work from home setting could either be in coffee shops, libraries, or any place where a worker can concentrate more to complete tasks. 

Instead of having to travel to their offices, especially in this times of widespread health risks, workers can stay in touch with their supervisors and coworkers through telephone, email, and instant messaging. 

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Telecommuting gives the employee a more constructive working environment, making the worker more productive in his field.

Telecommuting Statistics

One report from the 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce states that about 3.9 million US employees or 2.9 percent of the total US workforce work from home at least half of the time. 

A 115 percent increase was observed in telecommuting from the years 2005 to 2015 - from 1.8 million to 3.9 million. 

Meanwhile, Time reports that the number of telecommuters increased over the past week as the number of COVID-19 cases rises.

Why Telecommuting is Good

Telecommuting is not only a temporary solution to a global health risk; in a long-term sense, it allows greater work freedom from the usual 8-hour work timeframe. It also allows the worker to fulfill other obligations besides work. 

Most of the time, it gives the employee a more constructive working environment, making the worker more productive in his field. Apart from productivity, a person who works at his pace tends to be happier and thus is more likely to stay in his current job for a longer period. 

Telecommuting Benefits to Family Life

Telecommuters, or people who work from home, could better take care of their family by being present at all times. 

Working from home solves the problem of having to commute day in and day out of their offices. This gives every family member a better chance of spending more time with each other and therefore create a more loving environment between spouses and children.

Not only does telecommuting resolves the problem with the time spent on travel, but it also saves money on transportation - be it public or private vehicles. 

Telecommuting and Family Planning

If the advantages of staying safe during a pandemic and not having to travel to and from work do not convince you to telecommute, another factor to take into consideration is its effect on family planning. 

A lot of couples nowadays are having a hard time fixing their schedule to propagate their genes. One of the most common reasons is that both the husband and wife are either too tired or stressed to make babies. 

Since most of the couples are very hardworking, they tend to overwork to earn enough for a living. Also, since they are too tired when the day is over, all they would do is to slack off to get ready for the next day, and the cycle goes on and on until their earthly bodies are not strong enough to reproduce, much more bear a baby. 

This is where telecommuting helps in family planning. If both spouses would be working from home, the result would be energetic and happier couples, which in turn could result in more bonding and a more satisfying sex life. 

Ultimately, telecommuting not only serves as a precaution during times of an outbreak or a pandemic; it allows families to bond, especially during these hard times.