More and more, research is underscoring the tremendous value telecommuting can provide a company: greater productivity, happier employees, and reduced operational costs.

We also recently examined how telecommuting can substantially improve the environment through reduced pollution, so much so that researchers placed an actual number on the amount of green house gases avoided.

And now, another, benefit of telecommuting: the ability for companies to hire top-tier talent.

It’s simple: people want to telecommute, and according to a recent survey, would take a pay cut to do it. For employers, it is the best of both worlds: not only is the candidate pool full of qualified employees looking for work during a downturn, they can further whittle the field by offering telecommuting to not only get a more qualified employee, but get them at a lower cost.

Of course, there are other things to consider associated with telecommuting, such as the need for end-to-end hoteling software, but a quick cost-benefit analysis should show that it’s a no-brainer: telecommuting pays.