Cisco’s Next-Generation Workforce
* Cisco employees spend about 63 percent of their time communicating and collaborating.
* 40 percent of Cisco employees say they are not located in the same city as their manager.
* The average Cisco employee now telecommutes 2.0 days per week.
* 60 percent of the time saved by telecommuting is spent working and 40 percent is spent on personal time.
Key Findings/Highlights
* Cisco conducted the survey in late 2008 to evaluate a number of telecommuting topics, including commuting patterns, technology barriers, work quality and productivity, environmental impacts, and advantages and disadvantages of the flexible lifestyle, as well as overall employee satisfaction.
* 1,992 Cisco employees across five regions (Asia Pacific, emerging markets, European markets, Japan and U.S./Canada) participated in the study.
Productivity and Collaboration
* Approximately 69 percent of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working remote, and 75 percent of those surveyed said the timeliness of their work improved.
* By telecommuting, 83 percent of employees said their ability to communicate and collaborate with co-workers was the same as, if not better than, it was when working on-site.
* 67 percent of survey respondents said their overall work quality improved when telecommuting.
* An improved quality of life through telecommuting was cited by 80 percent of survey respondents.
* Telecommuting can also lead to a higher employee retention rate, as more than 91 percent of respondents say telecommuting is somewhat or very important to their overall satisfaction.
Going Green
* In 2008, Cisco teleworkers prevented approximately 47,320 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the environment due to avoided travel.
* The average distance for round-trip commutes varied among global regions: employees in U.S. and Canada reported on average a 30-mile round-trip commute; Asia Pacific employees cited a distance of about 14 miles; Japanese employees cited a 26-mile commute; employees in emerging markets commute an average of 16 miles; and European employees reported a 46-mile commute.
* Cisco employees report a fuel cost savings of $10.3 million per year due to telecommuting.