By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

It’s a tough economy, and unemployment remains high despite billions and billions of dollars being wasted in D.C. under the guise of “helping” bring unemployment down, lots of people want work.

Employees in a recent Regus-sponsored survey reported in the Dallas Business Journal said sure, they appreciated having jobs, but they needed them to be in “a flexible work environment” to “counterbalance stress.”

Regus sells flexible office suites and virtual office products. Jeffrey Doughman, a regional vice president with Regus, says employees “more than ever, desire workplaces that offer flexibility for them to be productive.”

No doubt the old-fashioned jobs would be perfectly fine for a rather high percentage of the unemployed as well.

In a new survey of 11,000 corporations in 15 countries, Regus officials say, they found that 59 percent of those surveyed said “working fewer days in the office” and setting up shop at home or in remote workplaces would “make a positive impact” on retaining staff. “They are looking to be as close to home as possible,” Doughman said.

Regus officials speculate that commuting time may be a reason for the interest in working at home: “The average commute time for those surveyed is 22.6 minutes. About 19.3 percent of those surveyed have to spend 30 minutes to an hour on the road. In addition, it takes about 5.4 percent of those surveyed one to two hours to get to work.”

Doughman said a “hybrid experience,” where the employees work from home but use flexible meeting and office space provided by Regus on an as-needed basis, could become popular.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.

Edited by Michael Dinan