According to new research by international public policy consultant Wendell Cox, the number of employees working from home in the US has skyrocketed over the last year.

In 2009, 1.7 million more employees worked from home than in 2000, representing a 31 per cent increase in market share, or from 3.3 per cent to 4.3 per cent of all employment.

The group attributed the sharp rise in working from home to telecommuting, as people use IT and communications technology to perform jobs that used to require being in the office.

Alongside the Wendell Cox research, the recently released 2009 American Community Survey data illustrated how the number of people working at home now far outweighs the number of people driving into work.

Ten years ago, working at home had a larger market share than transit in 28 of the present 52 major U.S. metropolitan areas.

By 2009, working at home led transit in 38 major metropolitan areas, a rise of 10 from the year 2000.

Between 2000 and 2009, the working at home market share rose nearly six times as much as the transit share in the major metropolitan areas (38.4 per cent compared to 6.4 per cent).