How would you like to work in your pajamas? I don't normally repost news, but one caught my attention today and the article is worth a read.
The Business News Daily and Yahoo News Philippines recently published a story which predicts that by 2016, about 43 percent of the US population will be working from home.
The prediction by Forrester Research is supported by data collected by Staples Advantage. According to the telecommuters surveyed:
- They feel that they are leading better-balanced lives.
- They are more willing to work overtime at home than in the office for an urgent project.
- Their stress levels decreased by as much as 25 percent.
- Their degree of happiness and job satisfaction increased by as much as 28 percent.
- They would rather miss a favorite tv show or sleep late in order to keep telecommuting.
- They do not mind choking a 10 percent pay cut off their normal (day job) wages.
It's not just the workers who are feeling the advantage of telecommute jobs. The Staples Advantage survey also mentioned that companies which allow their employees to work from home also save on overhead costs for space rental, equipment and office supplies. In fact, majority of home-based workers know that they won't be billing their online employers for electricity usage or Internet plans.
With home-based job prospects getting rosy in the US, should Asian providers be worried? Suffice it to say that competition is generally good as long as nobody uses low-balling to dominate the industry. The salary landscape is expected to change with the influx of Western freelancers into the job market.*
