9/11 Concerns Prompt More Telecommuters

The latest in a series of surveys by The New York Times Job Market, the newspaper company’s print and online recruitment service, found that a fifth of hiring managers say they allow workers to telecommute.

More than a third predict they’ll have more telecommuters in the future because of new employees’ security concerns after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC.

The practice is certainly popular among job seekers with 36% saying they hope to telecommute to their next job and another 31% saying they would consider it.

Negotiating Compensation

Although only 18% of hiring managers provide any compensation for commuting, almost one-third of job seekers expect to be compensated in some way.

Job seekers would consider negotiating in their next jobs for various forms of compensation, as follows:

• 
  higher base salary would be the first choice of 80%,
• direct reimbursement for travel came up for 80%,
• pre-tax dollars set aside for commuting costs were listed by 69%,
• flexible hours to cover commuting time were mentioned by 66%,
• telecommuting some days per week were on the list for 62%, and
• shortened work hours were mentioned by 53%

Hiring managers whose companies provide telecommuting compensation say that their companies are most likely to directly reimburse employees for travel expenses or offer a program that sets aside pre-tax dollars to cover travel expenses.