What does telecommuting mean?
Telecommuting is the practice of doing one’s job from somewhere other than the employer’s usual workplace, most often from home and usually through internet-based tools such as email, video conferencing, and online collaboration systems. The term can also function as a verb: someone who is telecommuting is working remotely rather than travelling to an office. It became especially familiar as a widespread working arrangement in the early twenty-first century, although the practice and the word are older. Telecommuting is associated with reduced commuting time, greater flexibility, and wider geographical access to employment, but discussions often also consider isolation, communication, boundaries between work and home life, and unequal access to suitable working conditions. The term remains common in British and American English, while remote work is often used as a broader modern alternative.
The practice of working for an employer from a location other than the employer’s main workplace, usually from home, using telecommunications.
"The company offers telecommuting to staff who live outside the city."
Usually an uncountable mass noun referring to the work arrangement or practice, rather than to individual workers.
To work for an employer from a location other than the employer’s main workplace, usually from home, using telecommunications.
"She telecommutes three days a week and comes to the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
The present participle is commonly used in this sense; it is often interchangeable with working remotely.
Telecommuting is normally an uncountable mass noun, so it does not take a regular plural form.
"Telecommuting has become a standard option for many office-based employees."
Telecommuting turns the daily commute into a keyboard shortcut.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does telecommuting come from?
Telecommuting combines the prefix tele-, meaning “at a distance,” with commute, in the sense of travelling to and from work. The prefix comes from Greek tēle, “far” or “distant,” while commute derives from Latin commutare, “to change or exchange,” through the older sense of exchanging one place for another. In modern usage, the compound refers to replacing physical travel to work with work enabled by telecommunications.
Related word forms
How telecommuting is actually used
Telecommuting is neutral and widely used in British and American English. As a noun, it usually refers to the practice or arrangement as a whole; as a verb, it describes an individual worker’s activity. In modern workplace discussions, it is often discussed alongside remote work, hybrid work, and flexible working.
Easily confused with telecommuting
Teleworking is a broader term for paid work performed remotely, while telecommuting specifically emphasizes replacing travel to and from the workplace through telecommunications.
Teleporting means instantaneously moving from one place to another, whereas telecommuting means working remotely without making a physical commute.