The bare facts about naked telecommuting

Network World - We've all heard the jokes about what our colleagues who work from home are wearing -- or not. For Tom Mulhall, though, telecommuting naked is no joke. Rather, it's good business. The owner (along with his wife) of The Terra Cotta Inn clothing-optional resort and spa in Palm Springs, Calif., Mulhall wrote to us this week "just wearing a smile" to say that 80% of their guests bring laptops and work nude poolside. He was commenting on a study we wrote about last year that found one in eight male teleworkers and one in 14 female teleworkers say they do their jobs in the nude. I followed up with Mulhall and asked him a few questions about computing in the altogether.

How far back would you say guests first started whipping out their laptops to work in the nude at your resort? Guests used laptops poolside before 9/11, but I think 9/11 was a major turning point for people working harder and longer hours. Since then, so many people are so worried about losing their jobs. They have seen so many of their friends downsized. The job market has not been the best in all fields. That is when the whole 24/7 concept really took off, with employees being tied to doing so much work from home or on vacations or forgoing vacations. Many people feel that they can't get away for a vacation unless they have their laptops with them.

Do these guests let on to colleagues that they are working in the buff? Some say, "Ha, ha, I am working poolside in my birthday suit, and it is sunny and in the 80s outside; jealous?" More guests, however, just quietly chuckle to themselves saying, "If only they" -- meaning the office -- "could see me now." Many guests also tell us that working in the nude feels like an act of defiance for having to work at home or on vacation. If they have to be stiffly attired all week long in the office, at least they will be comfortable on their own time when they do work at home or vacation.

We find that the guests who are in conservative fields such as law, banking, accounting, finance, etc. would never tell others that they are working in the nude. Whereas those who are in more creative or entrepreneurial businesses feel comfortable telling others they work nude. Finally, those in sensitive jobs such as education, government, etc., are again very concerned about people finding out they like to work in the nude or even be nude. Remember, it was Attorney General John Ashcroft who spent all that taxpayer money covering the bare breast of the statue [of] the Spirit of Justice in Washington, D.C. There are many employers who are just as fanatically against nudity as Ashcroft.