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It's the '70s all over again.

This time around, soaring fuel costs and grid lock traffic are driving Canadians to review their work-style options, and – not surprisingly – many are choosing to telecommute...when they have the choice, that is.

Until this year's spike in gas prices, the notion that telework really doesn't work was quite prevalent.

A couple of years ago, Svein Bergum, a researcher with the Eastern Norway Research Institute in Lillehammer actually asked his colleagues around the world that tough question: has telework failed?

A quarter of the 31 researchers Bergum polled – all of whom study telework – believed the concept had not delivered, while a greater number thought it just wasn't being talked about a whole lot.

But that picture is fast changing – in Canada's IT sector at least.

Telecommuting is not only being talked about more, some tech industry observers say the idea is making a comeback, but with a new twist.

"In the past, employers were the ones advocating telework," noted Diane Horton, human capital management leader and resident telework expert at IBM Canada. "Today the pressure is coming from employees."

She said developments in Web-based technology, a new understanding of telework dynamics, and shifts in workforce demographics are conspiring to boost the trend even further.

But it's the price of gas that's making all the headlines.

For example in a recent survey of U.S. drivers, Big Blue found out workers are fed up with longer commutes, increased pollution, and higher fuel prices.

Forty-six per cent of respondents to IBM's Commuter Pain Survey conducted in May said $4.50 per gallon of gas is the break point at which they would seek alternatives to driving

About 27 per cent of the respondents said there were times when they "turned around and gone home" because of traffic congestion.

One out of three of the respondents want their employer to provide the option of working from home.

The study polled 4,000 drivers in 10 U.S. cities – but its results reflect realities in Canadian cities as well, said Horton.

Some three years ago, IBM developed Mobility@Work, a consultancy service designed to help businesses develop telework strategies for their company, including appropriate technologies.

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