That is the question. The face of the workplace has changed over the years to the point where there are now a majority of people working from the comfort of their own homes versus having to drive anywhere from five to fifty minutes to work. Not only is it saving people gasoline (which is continually on the rise), but it is also saving them the headache of having to deal with over anxious supervisors micromanaging as well as nosy co-workers. In most cases, employees are able to set their own schedule that is typically based (somewhat loosely) around a 9am-5pm workday. In other cases, managers and/or supervisors simply require that their employees make themselves available during regular work hours just in case they are needed for any reason.

Working from home has many benefits-especially for a rising class of stay-at-home moms who can now enjoy quality time with their children without having to feel guilty for leaving them with a baby sitter while they go off to work for nine plus hours. Rather, now moms get to stay at home with their children and spend quality time with them while they work at the same time. Imagine all of the moms who are saving money that they would have otherwise been spending on daycare and/or babysitters!

Another benefit of working from home is the fact that on some small scale, it saves you money on having to purchase clothes for work- although most work environments nowadays are dress casual. Not everything is sunny and bright though. There are some downsides to working at home believe it or not. For instance, many people may complain about over zealous bosses or nosy co-workers, but the fact of the matter is that when you actually have to go to work, you are getting a chance to interact with other people on a regular basis. Work friendships are often how people end up with their significant others. It is also a great way to network with other people and meet new friends. There are coroporate parties and other events to attend, and sometimes (depending on where you work), you may even have athletic teams that are sponsored by your company. When you work from home, you don't have any of that. This isn't to say that you cannot have a fulfilling social life when you work out of your house; it's just to say that you may have to work a little harder than others who are at an actual office.

Working from home has also forced many employers to change the way they think when they put out ads to hire people for their company. For instance, I noticed that in many of the ads for companies that are hiring, the company will actually offer possible employees the chance to work from home occasionally. Sometimes companies will offer other incentives such as working all or most of your hours within certain days so that you can have one day off per week. One of my friends has a setup like this. He is an engineer and works slightly longer days Monday through Friday so that he can have every other Monday off. It's a pretty nice incentive, and it just goes to show that employers (whether they like it or not) may have no choice as the number of people who work from home continues to increase.