With the Industrial Revolution in progress, in order to find work, people moved from rural settings to close-by the factories in order to walk to work daily. As trollies and commuter rails began slicing through ever growing communities, workers could move away from the noisy factories to quiet tree-lined, sub-urban settings.
Then with the advent of the motor car, employees moved even further away from their work, out "the Main Line," to find bigger houses and bigger lawns and better schools. Roads and super roads were built to convey tens of thousands of cars daily into work. High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes (defined curiously as two or more occupants in the car) were created for those who "car-pooled." Some would drive an hour or more, like I did in Boston on the Mass Pike, to get to WBZ-TV, and my job; other friends in the television business who used mass transit would take the train from Connecticut to New York City, traveling two hours each way to get to their offices in Manhattan.
Now we find ourselves arguing over the solution to the cost of commuting to work and ending our dependence on foreign oil while traveling daily in single cars to "work."
Here's an idea:
Have your employees work from home, rather than driving or taking mass transit to work. Many could -- customer service reps, CAD designers, graphics artists, Internet services -- create your own list. Fewer parking places to maintain, fewer cubicles to buy, less personnel issues, less office supplies, less coffee etc. And, less oil. Use the technology of today rather than a 20th century model.
Yes, there would be worker productivity issues, monitoring progress, employees who would work from 11:00pm to 6:00am, rather than 9-5pm -- simply issues to be solved in my mind, given the benefits.
What do you think?
(Funny what runs through your mind while driving on Interstate 70.)
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