The rise of telecommuting: 45 percent of US employees work from home

The traditional 9-5 working day of driving to an office, sitting in a cubicle for hours and then forgetting all about work at the end of the day is all but extinct.

Thanks to telecommuting and the rise of millennials on the workplace, employees are now able to work from pretty much anywhere at any time of day, with little or no disruption or sacrifice in productivity.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Online MBA program has created the infographic below to take a closer look at the rise of telecommuting and how management styles are evolving as a result.

According to the report, 45 percent of US employees work from home and 53 million people work as freelancers, contributing $715 billion (£464 billion) annually to the American economy. Of these freelancers, 40 percent are independent contractors, 27 percent are moonlighters, 18 percent are diversified workers, 10 percent are temporary workers and five percent are freelance business owners.

But just which companies are hiring these remote workers? Well, Teletech comes out in first place and the likes of Amazon, IBM and SAP all feature in the top ten.

The infographic also offers advice on how to manage your virtual team, with tips for hiring freelancers -- such as picking a dedicated freelance site and checking for positive reviews -- and some of the top collaboration and communication packages on offer.

The full infographic can be found below.

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Photo Credit: Vasiliy Koval/Shutterstock