City of Austin

Austin celebrates Work from Home Day Feb. 8
City employees to join community effort to steer clear of office

Is your work commute the worst part of your day?

That will not be an issue Feb. 8 for hundreds of City of Austin and local business employees participating in Work from Home Day, a citywide effort to reduce people’s impacts on the environment.

The City of Austin, one of Austin’s largest employers, is partnering with Social Good Summit Austin, a group of community activists, leaders and socially conscious entrepreneurs, to plan this telework day to create a conversation about ways the community collectively can improve air quality and congestion. 

Work from Home Day strives to show that with advances in technology, employees are capable of working from home with all the same resources they would have in the office. The capability to route desk phones to ring on cell phones, log into desktop computers from laptops via remote access software and videoconference meetings can make teleworking as effective as a day in the office, organizers say.

“Teleworking is one of the most effective ways for people to greatly reduce their work-related carbon footprint," said Lucia Athens, City of Austin Sustainability Officer. "It demonstrates that work is something you do, not a place you go.”

The City of Austin is at the forefront in creating opportunities for residents to live well while preserving the environment. City leaders are committed to reducing the City’s carbon footprint and support teleworking, making it regularly available to employees whose job performance and content is appropriate. Approximately 1,000 City employees worked from home at least once in 2012, with more than 400 telecommuting regularly.

City of Austin departments such as public safety personnel and others who demand in-person interaction will not take part in the Feb. 8 event.

Employees who are not eligible to telework are encouraged to consider alternative commute solutions such as carpooling to avoid single-passenger ridership.    

All Austin businesses are encouraged to take part in this initiative. Besides the City of Austin, local participants will include ACTIVE Life, Advanced Micro Devices, Austin Community College, Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Austin Technology Council, Austin Young Chamber of Commerce, Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and Capital Metro.

Also, Dell, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, GSD&M, Jason’s Deli, National Instruments, PGI, Rackspace, St. Edward’s University, Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Governor’s Office. Public Safety and Travis County Commute Solutions.

Telework options for employees have been demonstrated to improve employee productivity, cut costs for businesses, and help the environment by decreasing emissions and vehicle miles travelled.

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For more information on transportation initiatives in Central Texas visit:

City of Austin: http://austintexas.gov/airquality

Capital Area Council of Governments:

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: www.tceq.texas.gov/agency/air_main.html