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Subscribe to RSSPeople who work from home some of the time tend to make more money than people who work exclusively at home or at the office, according to new data from the Census Bureau.
The median annual earnings for people who worked at home at least one day a week but also worked at a job site was $52,800 in 2010, compared with $25,500 for people who worked at home exclusively and $30,000 for people who always work onsite, the Census Bureau found.
The data come as more people are working from home at least some of the time. About 9.5 percent of workers, or about 13.4 million people, worked from home at least some of the time in 2010. That was up from 9.5 million people, or 7.8 percent of all workers, in 1999, the Census Bureau reported.
"Mixed" workers who work both at home and in an office are generally affluent, with median household income of $96,300, according to census data. That compares with median household income of $74,000 for people who always work at home and $65,600 for people who always work onsite, the researchers reported.
Nearly half of the people who worked at home exclusively were self-employed, but experts say there are other explanations for why those who work from home make less.
Some employers are finding that especially among younger workers, the ability to work at home and forgo a grueling commute is such a beneficial perk that they are willing to accept a lower starting salary in exchange for it.
“They’re placing more emphasis on certain aspects of work/life balance,” said Lisa Calicchio, vice president of recruitment and talent services for Covance, a drug development company based in Princeton, N.J.
Calicchio – who happened to be working from home when she spoke to TODAY – said her company has become more accepting of telecommuting among people who don’t do manufacturing or other work that requires a physical presence.
Flexibility can be a great recruitment tool in the traffic-clogged Northeast because it saves employees the headaches that come with commuting, and it also can save employers money on real estate.
Although she only works from home on occasion, Calicchio said plenty of staffers are exclusively working offsite. The company uses a variety of communication tools to keep in touch, and Calicchio said she encourages them to be proactive about phoning and e-mailing their managers just to stay in the loop.
Still, those phone calls are no replacement for face time, and Calicchio said it can be a challenge for managers to accept that their workers are getting the job done even when they can’t be seen.
The reality, she said, is that many offsite workers outperform because they are so grateful to be skipping commute.
“It’s kind of the honor system,” she said. “It keeps them honest. It keeps them thankful.”
In fact, research shows that people who work at home tend to work harder to prove they are just as productive as if their boss were sitting across from them, said Ellen Ernst Kossek, a professor at Michigan State University.
Some of those workers – particularly the ones who work at home occasionally – could easily be classified as overworkers. They are the ones for whom the convenience of the home office leads to what she calls “job creep” as work seeps into nights, weekends and vacation time.
The corollary to that is “family creep,” when at-home workers find themselves doing child care, laundry and other duties while also trying to finish their work. That’s another problem some companies and workers face.
In general, Kossek – who also was working at home when she spoke with TODAY – is a fan of telecommuting. But she said companies need to provide cultural support to help telecommuters excel at their jobs while dealing with practical issues such as technical problems. And they need to shell out the money to bring virtual workers together at least occasionally.
Her research has shown that the system works best when people have a mix of home and office time.
But she added that working at home can limit your ability to get ahead and can lead to big communication problems.
In one case, she said, a student of hers went to work for a company and was required to work in the office while boss telecommuted.
One of her first tasks, which she had to perform without the physical presence of her manager, was to lay people off.
“She was extremely depressed,” Kossek said.
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A lot of the 47% work from home its called being on welfare. Why is it so many people want to sit around and collect a little money instead of getting out there and making a good living and enjoying life? What happened to the American Dream and why is it bad if you have a nice car and a nice home? It does not mean you keep it all to yourself, everyone I know gives a lot to charity, volunteers in their community and is able to get by on their income without having to take a government handout. I am one of those that work at home 75% of the time and am on the road for work the rest. It is because I went to school and got a job and I work hard and therefore got to a place in life where I love my job and can have the flexibility to work from home because I am successful at what I do.
The "47% are all slackers on welfare" BS has been disproven multiple times. The overwhelming majority of that 47% are employed, but earn so little that they end up paying no income tax, or are seniors who've already paid their share.
But if you think being on welfare is such a sweet gig, as so many of your mindset seem to do, quit your job and sign up for benefits.
Mr. Bailey is another one of those "legend in his own mind" types. Didn't anyone ever tell you the idea is to work "smart" not "hard."
Scott, it's too bad you can't earn a living by simply being a moron in your home. You're well qualified.
after I hit the lottery, I realized I liked working from home on small jobs around the house, in between times while I counted my moneys, but I don't understand people don't like counting moneys at home any more, they count the cars? and 47% don't like to work away to taxes for the American dream of staaying home and doing nothing, except scrathing off
Like most things it is the small group of people who abuse work from home that ruin it for everyone else. The ones that think they can avoid day care expense and work from home are the best examples. Taking care of a couple of small children is a huge job itself and unlike most business they do not run on a schedule. Having to skip a meeting or make everyone wait while you tend to a issue is disrespectful.
I always smile when we have biz conference calls and people use open mics so they don't have to hold the handset. Invariably, the dog barks or a kid comes in the room and the call breaks down as everyone has to wait for the person working at home to handle the interruption. Same thing when a guy is in his car and the window is down and the air rushing over the mic obliterates the call as that is all the other attendees can hear. Everyone yelling to " go on mute" is a humerous time waster as well. Someone has turned "jobs" into a welfare program. I am not surprised the people working at home get paid less. The truth will come out. You can't make this stuff up.
so let me get this straight, if you make more money and you have more flexibility.
Gee, it took a study to point out the bleeding obvious?
That's usually what studies do.
It is like hiring a consultant--yo know, a person who puts on a suit and drives 50 miles. He borrows your watch to tell you what time it is.
Seriously. If you work in the service economy and do white-collar work, it's easy to work from home with a broadband Internet connection. If you serve fast-food or sweep floors, you can't do it from home. What a revelation...!
tackandcover: "He borrows your watch to tell you what time it is."
Yes, and then charges you $10,000 for the service.
Pretty poor analysis. People at my office who work at home 1 or 2 days per week are the ones that are the better performing employees.
So yeah, it kind of figures that they would make more...
I think your observation matches the article's conclusion.
From the article:
And that is exactly how I get the 'flexibility' to work from home. My regular 40 hours are in the office, but emergencies, overtime, on vacation time would be considered 'working from home'.
Personally, I would never permit my employees to work from home unless thy are a contract employee working on project assignments. This is mostly a concern because our organization does not have a clear set of guidelines and policies regarding work at home employees. A couple of employees tried this several years ago and it just did not work.
Also, out of sight... out of mind can be a problem for these folks for advancement, etc.
Anyway, I just don't believe it worked all that well for our organization. I think it could, but we have a long way to go...
I agree with your thoughts out of sight and out of mind is bad for getting credit for one's good works. Promotions may go to the folks in the office shining up to the boss, even if the one at home is doing a marvelous job.
Hint: one is either an employee or a contractor. There is no such thing as a "contract employee".
Ed... I understand that the "official federal term" is independent contractor. Contract employee is a loosely used term kicked around by everyone. Relax...
Ed appreciates language is the key to success. The idea that incorrect use of terms is OK, so just relax, is a very real part of the societal and economic decline. The people who built the US into the top society and economy in the world were not loosey goosey about the language. Specifics are the keys to excellence or average or crappy results. People who try to achieve excellence do not turn it off, even in casual conversation. People who never really care about details don't turn it on, ever. We need more people who pay attention to details. Language matters. Even if I misuse or misspell words - I try.
...
All the more reason that these 1% ers should be taxed to the hilt.
Everyone else is laboring far from home and yet these fat cats get to stay around the house and collect their millions.
Anyone earning over $80,000 should be taxed at 87.5%.
Any accumulation of wealth over $1,000,000 should be confiscated and redistributed to the less fortunate and/or less driven.
.
Obama / Biden in 2012.
...
Your trolling skills are very poor. Don't quit your day job at Arby's.
lol.... Obama is net worth is over 11 million. So you are saying he should give up 10 million of that? He has not as of yet, so why are you voting for him?
So you are for the US becoming a completely Socialist country? If you really feel that way, go to Europe.
I thought the republicons had already decided that we were a socialist country and in 4 more years there would be nothing left to save ????
Thankful for the option to telework (TW) when necessary. It is most valuable when sick, when a child is sick, when you may have to run a few more errands during the day, when you have a long commute & something personal comes up which keeps you from the office, when you have a cable co appt, when you just can take a day at the office - need some quiet time, etc. And I can TW, stop in the office for a face-to-face meeting, and leave.
My wife doesn't really have this option (higher ed - college); and hates that she can't do it. But teleworking is good when I don't have use my own saved Leave. And a good system to telework allows me to work from virtually anywhere I can get data service either via my mobile phone hotspot or via a wi-fi connection.
Can't do that in the ag. industry or any industry that supports the ag. industry. Also, the ag. industry is not considered work as it's almost always not included in any labor reports heh heh. Worked in the ag. industry all my life, I know lol. Anyway, as in another article, these are the people who have a longer life span as well heh heh. The politicians are going to jump on these articles so they can use them as an excuse to raise the ages for cutting back SS and Medicare heh heh.
From what I have seen... workers who work at home are doing it in exchange for NOT working excessive hours (over 40-45) stuck at the office.
I know I put in 50-60 hours on the job and another 20 "at home" when I was a retail district manager...... that was negotiated when I hired....
I would like to see how many of these people they are talking about in the article are working that way... or are they talking about 20 hours in and 20 hours out of the office? These companies are squeezing out more work for less people... paying for 40 hours... and "letting" you finish your job at home... calling it a "perk" from what I am seeing.....
"As long as you keep pulling rabbits out of your butt, they're going to keep expecting to see bunnies." Art M.
I work in IT and I work about 40% of my time from home. I find that I'm able to research and solve my most difficult technical problems from home.
working from home is a great thing, until you have a baby and that thing screams at you the whole day. try to get anything done with a baby around the house, you'd be begging for an office in no time.
I have a very good friend who does some sort of Financial analysis on product recognition value. He was given the opportunity to work from home, well unfortunately he is a BIG sports fan and ESPN was to much. He said "I wasn't getting things done"
So back to the office he went.
I'm in IT and work from home, love the flexibility. That being said, I do tend to work more hours, but it comes with the perk. My boss also works from home in NY, while I'm in CA. Some of our team members work at the main office and some are remote, it works out, we are a tight unit.
I make myself at home when at work.
Yes I am on the higher end of the pay scale, and I'm fortunate to get this "perk". But as another poster wrote, what looks like a perk is really just a clever way to get us to put in 80 hours a week. Here I am at 8pm at home (in Singapore) taking a "break" for dinner and reading this article, before I go back to work until midnight on a presentation due at 8am. And I'm on revision #19 as my boss sees it each morning and adds more items, which I can't get to until evening because of back-to-back meetings. So I'm not sure anyone should be jealous of this ....