More people telecommmuting to work

Rising commute times and skyrocketing housing prices are making Seattle a hot spot for telecommuting jobs.

The latest numbers show Washington State is one of the better places for those who want to work from home.

The numbers of telecommuters are still relatively low, compared to traditional on-site jobs.

Using Census information, the job search website Flexjobs found 5.5 percent of working people in Washington telecommute.

The national average is 4.5 percent, and Washington ranks 10th in the country.

Jeatt Berg is one of those telecommuters.

She used to live in West Seattle and it would take her 45 minutes to get to her financial analyst job for a major health care insurance provider on Capitol Hill.

When she had her daughter Anika, she started looking for a telecommuting job so she wouldn’t have to sit in traffic.

Three months later, through the FlexJobs website, she found a similar job that paid more and allowed her and her husband to move to Camono Island – giving her no commute, a lower mortgage payment and a view of Puget Sound.

Berg says she was surprised how many companies had telecommuting jobs available in the area.

"It just makes sense, with the way technology is going, with what works for people.  The cost of living in Seattle, where a lot of the jobs are.  The commute; there's too many cars on the street.  I really think this makes sense and this is where it should be going,” said Berg.

Though telecommuting isn't an option for many people, there are a lot of jobs out there.

Reporter Jeff Dubois checked the FlexJobs website and found full-time telecommuting jobs for writers, analysts, consultants, engineers, programmers and coders, sales representatives and more.

Workforce experts said there will be more and more off-site job opportunities in the future.

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