The Clean Air Campaign and its partners worked with Governor Perdue to create the first-ever Georgia Telework Week from August 23-27, 2010. Our motivation was simple considering that telework represents a convincing workplace strategy for any employer seeking to increase both efficiency and worker satisfaction. And it goes without saying that in many job centers around the state choked by traffic congestion, the best commute is the one that employees don’t have to make.

To many, telework still sounds like a concept that looms in the distance. But more employees are already doing it than most of us realize. In fact, more than 300,000 employees in metro Atlanta and around the state are already teleworking at least once per week. That translates into:

• 600,000 fewer vehicles trips to and from work (that means each work day, telework reduces the equivalent of one-third of the daily traffic on the north- and southbound lanes of Atlanta’ downtown connector);

• 12 million miles of vehicle travel eliminated from Georgia roads;

• and 6,000 tons of pollution kept out of the air we breathe.

This is made possible by one of the most robust broadband Internet networks anywhere in the country … and a growing number of Georgia employers who understand the business case for telework means enhanced productivity by as much as 20%, lower overhead and stronger continuity of operations in case of natural or man-made disasters or emergencies.

More employees in metro Atlanta are working to make their case for telework, too. In fact, another 350,000 employees in the region do not currently telework but believe their job function would allow it.

Here are results from The Clean Air Campaign’s first-ever Georgia Telework Week:

• Some 150 employers across the state – including half of Georgia’s Fortune 500 companies – gave their support to Georgia Telework Week.

• One employer conveyed that “We have experienced a growth in individual responsibility to improve the environment and an increase in morale by implementing [a telework] program.”

• Nearly 900 Georgia teleworkers completed an online survey on their experiences with telework:

- When asked to rate the statement "I am more productive on days when I telework compared to when I work at my place of employment," more than 81% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed.

- When asked to rate the statement “Being able to telework increases my job satisfaction," 85.8% of respondents strongly agreed and 12.5% agreed.

• In showing their support for Georgia Telework Week, comments included:

- “When working out of my home office I have no distractions or disruptions. My favorite aspect is that my commute is now one flight of stairs.”

- “I cut out a commute which lasted 45 minutes in the morning and about an hour at night. I have more time with my family.”

• Teleworking employees also submitted 29 nominations to recognize the efforts of their supervisors as part of The Clean Air Campaign’s Telemanager of the Quarter program.

Georgia’s first-ever Telework Week helped start more conversations about a workplace strategy whose time has come … and how The Clean Air Campaign helps employers start or expand programs with nationally-acclaimed consulting services provided at no cost.

The week also served to raise this simple question for the modern workplace: in our ever-connected world, how much longer will the workforce be content to drive an average of 20 miles to get from one computer to another?