A decade ago, working remotely was cumbersome, perilous and generally shunned by many longtime business leaders who kept a close eye on the botom line. But these days, telecommuting has become the rule and not merely the exception for many U.S. workers, and a new survey shows it’s getting high marks on a number of fronts.

The survey, from Teamviewer.com,  found that fully half (50%) of telecommuters feel that they’re more productive working from home, with 23% even saying that they are much more productive.

The survey also revealed 80% of Americans say that saving money on gas and having no daily commute are the biggest benefits of home work. And 45% of American telecommuters said they cut between 21 and 50 travel miles per day.

What workers like

Other telecommuting benefits American workers said they enjoy:

• Better work/life balance – 53.56%

• Less stress/better health – 51.98%

• Ability to complete household chores (e.g., laundry) while working – 50.4%

• Less involvement in office gossip – 37.55%, and

• Ability to be near children during the workday – 25.49%.

Telecommuters expect from their employers:

• Remote control of their computer

• Mobile access to their files both at work and at home – 43.48%

• Participation in office meetings as if in the same room – 40.32%

• Remote printing – 39.92%

• Ability to work on a document through screen-sharing – 37.55%, and

• Face to face video communication with colleagues and clients – 37.15%.

Tags: benefits, savings, TeamViewer, telecommuting