About this same time last year, I was on my way to work, to the Lehigh Valley Press’ Walbert Avenue, South Whitehall Township, office, to a space I shared with about 20 colleagues.

That night, I headed with my family to a Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey game at PPL Center. We sat shoulder to shoulder with other fans, hugged those we knew and navigated crowded corridors in search of food, drinks and restrooms.

We returned home a few hours later to a voicemail message that a co-worker of my husband was being tested for the coronavirus - at that time, still a fairly foreign word. We were instructed by our employers that we should quarantine until that person’s results were known.

It would be the last time I worked in the office with my co-workers. Soon after that night, our governor recommended telecommuting as the virus began to spread. The majority of the Lehigh Valley Press staff was moved home to continue our work.

An entire year has gone by.

Today, the words coronavirus and COVID are spoken countless times a day. The idea of sitting shoulder to shoulder with anyone is mildly horrifying.

And although I miss my co-workers dearly, our space is too small to distance properly - so home is where we remain. We continue to work remotely, but we still work together. We hold weekly editorial meetings via Zoom and maintain daily communication through emails and phone calls.

Ironically, this same week is Telecommuter Appreciation Week. No kidding, this is actually a real thing.

The day was first celebrated in 1993 to mark the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, who is most well known for inventing the telephone. Telecommuter Appreciation Week advances the benefits of working from home while staying connected to the office.

As we continue to try and find our way to the other side of the pandemic, researchers have been busy watching how the workforce has adapted.

At the start of 2020, 5 million employees reported working from home at least half the time. That’s 3.6 percent of the U.S. workforce.

Obviously, those numbers shifted higher throughout the year.

By 2028, it is estimated that 73 percent of all departments will have remote workers.

A research firm called Fundera detailed a few benefits of telecommuting, both to employees and employers.

Full-time telecommuting employees save more than $4,000 each year, on things such as gas, tolls, car upkeep, coffee runs, takeout lunches and more.

Employers who offer at least part-time commuting also save big. Gathered data from 2015 showed companies that allowed telecommuting saved more than $44 billion.

Employees who work from home are reported to be more productive. Eighty-six percent of those polled said they work better alone. Less office-setting distraction surely means more work time.

Employers offering work-from-home flexibility lose fewer employees. The telecommuting option means lower turnover rates - 25 percent less, in fact.

Researchers were quick to point out another benefit for both employees and employers - less stress.

But let’s not get carried away. Remote or not, this is still a newsroom.

Kelly Lutterschmidt

editor

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press