Question

Reading Tip: Read the last paragraph of the article. What is the article about? What is

the main idea?
The Benefits of Telecommuting
Gloria Alvarez gets up at 6:30 a.m. each weekday morning and goes into her kitchen.
There, she makes coffee and prepares breakfast for her two teenagers. After the children
take off for school, she heads for work. Most days, she gets dressed first, but once in a while,
she works in her pajamas. However, no one cares, because Ms. Alvarez is one of a growing
number of Americans who telecommute, or telework. That is, they work from home, and they
technology - a computer, phone, and fax machine - to stay in touch with their workplace.
According to Global Workplace Analytics, 3.7 million employees (2.8% of the
workforce) now work from home at least half the time. Many commuters are mothers like
Alvarez, who work from home full-time as a customer service representative for a major
clothing company.
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Telecommuting has great advantages for both workers and employers. For workers,
the best benefit is the time they save because they don't have to travel. Parents who
telecommute can spend more time with their children. Likewise, they are available
to take care of additional family responsibilities. Furthermore, working at home is also
convenient for disabled people and others who have difficulty traveling. In addition,
telecommuting gives workers more opportunities because, thanks to technology, they
work for companies that are not near their homes.
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Employers also benefit when workers telecommute. They save money because they
don't need as much office or parking space. Moreover, their workers are less likely to leave
the company and look for another job because they are more motivated. Also, studies show
that telecommuters can often complete more work in less time, because they don't have to
deal with office interruptions.
Research shows that almost half of U.S. workers have jobs that they can do at home
at least part of the time. Examples are managers, telephone salespeople, writers, computer
programmers, artists, and customer service representatives. In the future, if all these people
are able to work at home, they can avoid miles of driving and save millions of gallons of
gasoline. In this way, telecommuting could help not just workers and companies, but also
the earth.

What is the main idea of this article?

Answer 1

The article's main idea is that telecommuting offers significant benefits to both employees and employers, such as saving time, reducing work-family conflict, and increasing job satisfaction, while also having a positive environmental impact.

The main idea of the article titled The Benefits of Telecommuting is to highlight the advantages of telecommuting (also known as teleworking, ecommuting, working remotely, or simply working from home) for both employees and employers. The article explains that telecommuting enables workers to save time by avoiding commutes, spend more time with their families, and handle additional family responsibilities, which decreases work-family conflict and improves job satisfaction. It also benefits employers by reducing the need for office space and parking, while increasing employee motivation and productivity. Additionally, the article suggests that telecommuting has environmental benefits by reducing gasoline consumption and could potentially aid society in times of crisis, such as during a pandemic, by slowing down the spread of illnesses. Despite these benefits, the article acknowledges the complexities of technological reliance and its potential to blur the lines between work and personal life.