What professions are going remote the fastest?

Jessica Stillman — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 12:12:18 +0000

Who exactly works remotely these days? For years some jobs have been associated with dialing in from a distance. Writers, sales reps and childcare workers have been working from home since long before the tech advances that made the practice an option for many more professions. Do these stalwarts of remote working still make up the lion’s share of telecommuters?

The Conference Board recently crunched numbers from the U.S. Census to find out, producing a report entitled “The Incredible Disappearing Office: Making Telework Work.” The analysis reveals that while traditional teleworking professions still have the highest rates of remote working – 9.3 percent of writers worked remotely in 2010 and 10.8 percent of sales representatives did – these weren’t the professions where telecommuting was making the fastest gains. What job categories were the fastest growers?

Records clerks: 5.5 percent work remotely in 2008-2010, up 516 percent from 2011-2003
Insurance underwriters: 4.5 percent work remotely, up 275 percent
Lawyers: 2 percent telecommute, up 166 percent
Software developers: 6.1 percent telework, up 127 percent

In 2000, employees of non-profits were most likely to telecommute, the report also notes. Ten years later employees of for-profit businesses were now more likely to be working remotely. This shift in the telework landscape reflects the fact that “steady technical refinement…has made teleworking an increasingly attractive business proposition,” according to the release accompanying the report.

The report also agrees with the conventional wisdom that savvy management and thoughtful use of tech underpin telecommuting success. “Research concurs that the dual lynchpins of effective teleworking are strong management and robust IT,” said co-author Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic research at The Conference Board.

Are there any specific professions you are surprised don’t telecommute more (or less)?

Image courtesy of Flickr user Plutor.

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19% of U.S. Households Watch Online TV

Liz Gannes — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:04:59 +0000

Probably one of the most important benchmarks for online video, in my opinion, was the study conducted by TNS and the Conference Board last year that found 16 percent of American Internet households watch TV broadcasts online. That seemed pretty impressive at the time, especially given that it pre-dated the existence of Hulu along with widespread promotion of other network’s streaming offerings. It signaled that there was a real audience for premium entertainment on the PC screen.

Well, perhaps as expected, but certainly as an important milestone, that number is now larger: “Nearly one-fifth” of American Internet households watch TV broadcasts online, according to a release put out by the two firms today. So assuming the number is something on the order of 19 percent, it’s actually not that dramatic of an increase year-on-year. (We’ve asked if they can send over a more precise percentage. The firms do say this year’s figure is double what they measured two years ago.)

In its study of 10,000 households, TNS and the Conference Board found that of those who watch TV online, 43 percent tune into the news, the most popular category. Thirty-nine percent watch drama shows, 34 percent sitcom/comedy shows, 23 percent reality shows, 16 percent sports, and 15 percent user-generated content.

Almost nine out of ten online TV viewers watch online broadcasts at home, while 15 percent watch from their office. Some 68 percent of online TV watchers stream video, while 38 percent utilize free downloads (Meaning illegitimate downloads, I assume. Most places offering authorized downloads, like iTunes, do it for a fee.) The top streaming destinations are official TV sites, with 65 percent of viewers, and YouTube, with 41 percent.

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What professions are going remote the fastest?

19% of U.S. Households Watch Online TV