Telecommuting in Pittsburgh (real estate market, house, income)

[Aqua Teen Carl]

We often see folks bring up a myriad of problems relating to commuting in Pittsburgh: heavy traffic, increasingly high commuting costs, road rage/stress from being on the road, problems with PAT, and the creation of pollution. However, what seems to not be part of the conversation would be a simple solution to rid the city of a lot of these problems: promote telecommuting as a the norm.

Company after company I have encountered in Pittsburgh takes an archaic approach to telecommuting. Most ban or severely limit it on principal because they are either technophobic or have a mistrust of their own employees. This attitude should cease in a city that pretends it's some sort of Rust Belt Silicon Valley as it is reflective of our still present blue collar mentality. There are thousands of office workers all over the metro than can do their entire jobs remotely but are not allowed to.

Of course not everyone can telecommute depending on what their jobs are. However, I think if that there was a push to make telecommuting more commonplace in Pittsburgh it would solve so many problems that directly impact quality of life in the city. Not only that, it would provide several positive benefits to both employers and employees.

So what do you think? Why isn't telecommuting as the norm part of the conversation?

[Pitt Chick]

It is a big part of many start-ups/small operations in the city.

I know a gal who lives in CA and works for a Pgh company.
My son is the opposite - lives in Pgh but works for a company in NY.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

I am telecommuting right now. My company, which is headquartered in CT, moved the majority of our staff from downtown to Greentree to save money. As a professional, I felt I had my identity stripped. I went from a view of PNC Park, tons of food and coffee options, and dressing up and being around other educated professionals to working in a grimy dungeon, no windows office with a crap cafeteria in bombed out Foster Plaza. I was so down so my GF told me I need to work at home for my sanity. My company has literally zero issues with this, but I hate not being around others during the day and not leaving my house often enough. I've worked from home on occasion before, but this is my first week trying telecommuting for the entire week.

That said, I have friends in my profession that work for Pittsburgh-headquartered companies, and they wouldn't dream of working from home, even if they had no reason to be in the office on a given day. It is either completely forbidden or strongly culturally frowned upon. These same companies seem to pursue compensation strategies that vastly underpay for young talent and seemingly overpay for "loyalty" or years of service instead of performance or contribution.

I think my company pursues a telecommute strategy to keep people happy but also to reduce real estate costs. I'm not sure why Pittsburgh companies don't do the same, but I am glad they don't. It keeps the commercial real estate market tight and tax revenues up for office buildings. The last thing we need is locally based companies contributing less to the tax base and putting more of the infrastructure burden on residents with enough income to pay their share.

[Moby Hick]

I don't actually find my commute very stressful, but I can work from home on some occasions. I don't know if I'd be allowed to go into full-on telecommuting. I also don't know that I'd want to because I don't want to give up house space for a dedicated home office and I like being able to leave the work behind in a different building when I end the day.

[doo dah]

Honest question, how does workers' compensation work for companies that allow telecommuting? That is the issue that I have always heard preventing a telecommuting policy where I work.

[Tinare]

I have remote access to my work computer and can occasionally work from home. My boss is really great about allowing that when needed. My job, however, requires a good deal of physical paper, access to records that cannot be kept electronically, and I need sign stuff, so I can't regularly telecommute.

Personally, I would have a hard time compartmentalizing home and work and would not want to do it all the time. I would either end up working all the time (most likely since I tend work long hours anyway and currently have the excuse that the dog can only hold it so long so I have to go home before 7:00...) or I would get too distracted by things needing to be done at the house to be productive enough. I'm sometimes a little ADHD and easily distracted by shiny objects. Having work at a work setting and home at a home setting makes that easier to deal with.

Anyway, my company takes a department by department, job by job view of it. It just unfortunately is not a viable option for many given the type of work.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by doo dah

Honest question, how does workers' compensation work for companies that allow telecommuting? That is the issue that I have always heard preventing a telecommuting policy where I work.

That's why coal miners can't telecommute.

[fleetiebelle]

My workplace is fairly flexible--some people work 7 to 3, some work 10 to 6, etc. Working from home is allowed on a limited basis, mostly because this is a workplace. We have meetings and people who do customer service-type jobs and sometimes it would be hard to get work done if you never know where your colleagues are. I also agree with the leaving work at work principle. I don't want to be expected to answer work calls/emails at home, on the weekends, at night, etc.

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

That's why coal miners can't telecommute.

I've tried digging holes in my backyard, but that proved unsatisfactory...

[Hopes]

I know many people who telecommute for Pittsburgh and out of state companies. The happiest are the ones who have a brick and mortar office in the same city with the flexibility to work at home whenever they want. It's very isolating to work from home constantly.