Lowest Gas Prices - an innovative solution
Gas prices too high? Your employer might help
More and more companies are taking steps to ease the burden of record-high gas prices. The most popular option: A compressed workweek of four ten-hour days.
The average U.S. worker commutes about 30 miles and, with gas at a record $3.97 per gallon, that can hit employees’ wallets pretty hard.
So some companies are making efforts to help out. In fact, according to a new survey by Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, most companies are doing so. The firm polled human resources executives in companies large and small in a wide range of industries, and found that 57% said they’ve launched at least one program, and usually several, designed to beat the high cost of commuting.
The most often cited, at 23%, are policies allowing - or even encouraging - people to work a compressed workweek of four 10-hour days. In addition, about 20% organize employee carpools, 18% subsidize the cost of public transportation, and 14% let people telecommute from home at least one day a week.
Keeping employees close to home
Why this burst of generosity? Count it as enlightened self-interest. Despite the shaky job market it would appear that many employers still count the recruitment and retention of talentrd workers among their top priorities. So they offer these gas-saving perks partly to keep their best and brightest workers from looking for jobs closer to home.”
The survey shows that, while only a few companies so far report losing a valued employee because of high commuting costs, more than one-third (34%) say they’ve had coveted candidates turn down job offers because of long commutes.
Telecommuting, which cuts carbon-fuel use to zero, seems at first glance to be the most attractive option of all, especially when you consider that two independent researchers, Kate Lister and Tom Harnish, analyzed the American workforce and found that 40% of us have jobs that could be done remotely - yet only 4% actually work from home on a regular basis.
Most employers still hesitate to let people work at home which may be due to the uncertain economy: So the search for lowest gas prices must go on.
However if all the U.S. workers who could telecommute actually began to do so, Lister and Harnish estimate we would conserve 625 million barrels of oil annually, cut greenhouse gas pollution by 107 million tons of CO2, and save almost $43 billion at the pumps.
Some companies are getting the message and expanding their support for telecommuting, often in combination with other programs that give employees a choice as to how they prefer to save fuel. CH2M Hill, a privately held engineering and construction firm in Englewood, Colo., that is one of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work, recently expanded its IT capabilities to allow more people access to the systems and networks they need to reach while working from home. The company also makes it easy for employees to bike to work, offering amenities like showers and secure bike storage on-site.
Denver’s new state-of-the-art light-rail system is partly subsidized by CH2M and, to encourage people to use it, the company started a program that lets employees buy rail passes using pre-tax payroll deductions. The passes are unlimited “all you can ride” tickets that take people all over the Denver area, day or night, for less than $30 a month.
While you may need to find a job that allows you to telecommute or search for lowest gas prices, I have the best of both worlds. I work from home and earn enough money so that I don’t need to worry abut rising gas prices.
Its Good Business allows me to do just that.
Tags: lowest gas prices, solution, money, its good business, US workers, innovatiive Contact: Mary Lapp 604-855-9204
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
Recent Comments