Telecommuting On the Rise, Helps Decongest Metropolitan Traffic in Houston Area

Navigating rush hour traffic can be exasperating, if not outright nerve-wracking. A long or particularly stressful commute can even be enough to deter a candidate from accepting a job offer. However, rush hour drivers in Houston Texas are getting a break, thanks to telecommuters.

Due to Houston’s influx of tech-savvy transplants seeking affordable housing and high-paying jobs, telecommuting is quickly becoming a viable option for many companies. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Houston’s telecommuting work force has increased by a whopping 100% from 2012 to 2013. This means a faster, easier, and less stressful commute for those who do still drive to work..

Houston has become a prime example of why telecommuting can be advantageous to both employers and employees, according to Brie Reynolds, the director of online content for Flexjobs, a website that allows businesses and online-based employees to connect.

“Houston is interesting because it’s a combination of all the reasons we see telecommuting grow,” said Reynolds.

Telecommuting also allows employers to expand their search for qualified candidates, rather than be restricted to one physical area.

While the majority of Houstonians firmly believe the Bayou City is a great to live and work, their distaste for the city’s traffic problem, which can only be described as nightmarish, is growing. According to Rice University’s Annual Kinder Institute Houston Survey, released in April 2014, 29% of participants felt traffic — more than crime or the economy — was the city’s number one problem. In 2013, only 21% of participants felt that way.

Houston drivers are also gaining notoriety as being some of the rudest in the country, according to AutoVantage’s 2014 “In the Driver’s Seat Road Rage Survey,” which measures behaviors, observations and attitudes related to road rage. While Houston was ranked as the eighth-least-courteous city in 2009, in 2014 it placed first for aggressive and impolite road behaviors, beating out cities like New York and Boston.