While it has cropped up many times over the years, another unanticipated bit of fallout from surging energy costs has been a renewed interest in both telecommuting and the four day work week. Chrysler is looking into it again, Howard County, Md. has adopted it, along with Brevard County Community College in Florida, among others. Some of these early adopters are seeing benefits in the form of reduced energy costs at office locations and improved employee productivity and satisfaction. The workers also realize savings in gas and related expenses for work travel, less time spent commuting and more time spent with family.

Other employers are moving toward allowing eployees to work from home. Such telecommuters realize the ultimate savings in gas and flexibility of schedules. Neither of these systems, however, are without isses and concerns. Not all types of industries have work which can be done remotely. (If you’re the person who attaches widget number 217A to Frame Subsection B3, you really can’t do it from home.) Retail outlets, of course, can’t simply close down operations for an extra day per week without suffering losses of revenue. There are also concerns regarding productivity, particularly among younger workers in less responsible positions who may require more supervision.

So what do you think? Is this generally a boon or a bust? Or is it situational? We’ll be talking about that, and a few places which are experimenting with such plans today on Mid Stream Radio at 1 pm eastern, 10 am pacific. Feel free to stop by and share your thoughts.