5 reasons working from home benefits older workers

"That's going to enrich their lives and make them more financially secure,” says Richard Johnson, who directs the program on retirement policy at the Urban Institute. “Many are

looking for flexibility, not a 9-to-5 job that requires them to commute every day. Teleworking makes part-time work at off-hours much easier. It can be especially important for those older

workers who may have trouble traveling or be more susceptible to disease.” THE REMOTE-FRIENDLY JOB MARKET WILL LIKELY EXPLODE Large employers such as Dell, SAP and UnitedHealth Group are

among the top 100 remote-friendly companies, recently culled from a database of 54,000 employers by FlexJobs. Even as unemployment skyrocketed during the pandemic and the outbreak threatened

a mass recession, UnitedHealth, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, was looking to fill over 200 remote positions in every part of the company: clinical, sales and marketing, technology,

customer service and claims, consulting and more, says company spokesperson Tyler Mason. Hourly pay ranges from $18 to more than $65, depending on the level of the job and the worker's

experience. "We've learned from the pandemic that many kinds of workers can work from home,” says the Urban Institute's Johnson. “Both employees and employers are learning

that new technologies make remote work easy and productive. Those lessons won't be forgotten once the pandemic ends." EVERYONE — EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS — STANDS TO SAVE MONEY

Older workers, more concerned than ever about the effect of the pandemic on their investments and the economy, can save big by telecommuting. “A single Washington, D.C., office worker who

teleworks just one day each week can see annual average savings of $645 in transportation costs and $3,769 in time savings,” says Bert Sperling, founder of BestPlaces, a publisher of city

rankings that partnered with Intel to look at which cities would benefit most from telecommuting. "It was surprising to see the effects of even this modest use of telecommuting,”

Sperling says. “If just half of Washington, D.C.'s office employees teleworked one day each week, local annual savings would be an estimated $407 million in personal transportation

costs (including 60 million gallons of gasoline) and 36.4 million hours of time worth almost $2.4 billion. The combined savings for the 80 top U.S. metro areas would top $64 billion

annually.” FlexJobs estimates the average person could also save $500 to $1,500 on dry cleaning and laundering, and another $1,040 on lunches and coffee. Employers, meanwhile, stand to save

billions annually. “Based on conservative assumptions, we estimate a typical employer can save an average of $11,000 per half-time telecommuter per year,” says Kate Lister, president of

Global Workplace Analytics. “The primary savings are the result of increased productivity, lower real estate costs, reduced absenteeism and turnover, and better disaster preparedness."