Virginia Sees Savings from Telework Day

Governor Timothy Kaine announced that Virginia teleworkers saved approximately $113,000, avoided driving 140,000 miles and removed 75.89 tons of pollutants from the air through participation in Telework Day on August 3, 2009. A report compiled by the public-private partnership Telework Exchange also reveals an increase in productivity by participants and reports satisfaction with their teleworking experience. 2,286 federal and private sector employees as well as 1,765 state employees participated in Telework Day in Virginia, for a total of 4,051 participants statewide. Eighty-one percent of participating state employees said they had teleworked before, compared to 78 percent of respondents nationwide, showing that Virginia's efforts to promote teleworking in state government have been successful. The report illustrates the potential impact of teleworking on employees' budgets and productivity, as well as the environment. If all eligible employees teleworked one day per week for a year, teleworkers in the Commonwealth would collectively avoid driving 602 million miles, remove 360,800 tons of pollutants from the air, and save $807 million in commuting costs. Over the course of a year this would equal a $1,822 annual raise for every teleworker in Virginia, and save 46 hours a year in commuting. A survey of Virginia's teleworkers also showed that 69 percent felt they accomplished more than a typical day at the office and 91 percent said that they would be more likely to telework again as a result of their experience. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported no difficulties in performing their duties on Telework Day.