Stay-At-Home Workers

By SHANNON BEHNKEN
The Tampa Tribune
Feb 5, 2007

Two years ago, MetLife faced a dilemma: It was losing Tampa Bay area insurance underwriters to companies that paid more.

So it offered a new perk: working in pajamas.

Now, 71 percent of the company's 112 underwriters work at least some of the time from home, and 68 of those workers do their jobs from home four days a week. Six employees don't even live in Florida.

"Morale has improved tremendously," said Rich Catozzi, director of underwriting. "And we feel [employees] actually get more work done at home because they work during the time they would normally be driving."

MetLife, which has 700 employees in Tampa, is part of a growing but small sector of Bay area businesses that embrace telecommuting, also known as teleworking, which means periodically or regularly working from home or another remote location. Nine percent of employees telecommute in the Bay area, according to Telework Tampa Bay, a nonprofit organization designed to promote working from home as a means to cutting traffic congestion.

Telecommuting gained popularity in the 1990s as computers made it easier to work from home, but it hasn't become as mainstream as some had hoped. However, in the past two years, as technology improved with high-speed Internet, more employers have dabbled in telecommuting as a way to attract and retain workers. Some companies are driven by the chance to save money on office space and as a way to be prepared during a disaster or health epidemic that could keep workers from getting to the office.

Nationwide, full-time employees who work from home at least one day a month increased to 12.4 million in 2006, up from 9.9 million the year before, according to a random survey of 1,001 adults by The Dieringer Research Group for WorldatWork, a Scottsdale, Ariz., human-resources organization.

Still, many employers hesitate to let employees work from home, questioning how it will benefit the company.

The 6th Judicial Circuit in Pinellas and Pasco counties allows employees to telecommute one day a week, but only if supervisors approve.

Karen Gatto, director of administrative service, said six of 22 managers let their workers telecommute. Of 270 employees, 20 telecommute. Part of the reason, she said, is that some jobs are easier to do at home than others. Most of the organization's telecommuters are court reporters who transcribe proceedings at home.

"You have to be able to measure what people are doing, to make sure they are productive at home," said Gatto, who telecommutes one day a week. "Just coming into the office doesn't mean the person is working either."

Employees in the 6th Judicial Circuit's telework program have to sign a formal agreement, only those people are allowed to work from home, and only on their scheduled day, Gatto said. "Telework can't be used as an excuse to not come in when you don't feel like it."

Catozzi, at MetLife, said the telework program has not only helped improve employee retention, but it saves on office space, too. The underwriters are rarely all in the office on the same day, he said, so the company needs just 45 desks for them to share.

One of those employees is Lisa Eckerle. She has worked from home for MetLife four days a week for nearly two years. She was a telecommuter for another company for three years before that.

Eckerle said she gets more work done at her home office, set up in a corner of her bedroom, because there are fewer interruptions. "I love my job, and I love it even more in my jammies."

Eckerle lives in Seminole and said she wouldn't be able to work for MetLife if she had to commute every day to the New Tampa office.

Plus, the arrangement benefits her personal life. Eckerle, a single mother of two teenagers, said her workday ends earlier than it would if she commuted and she can get to her children's schools faster if there is an emergency during the workday.

Christine Fossaceca, flexibility manager for JP Morgan Chase, which has two large operations in the Bay area, said 24 percent of the company's employees have a "flexible schedule," and most of those people telecommute. Those employees work from home one to five days a week.

Fossaceca said the company saw a surge in interest in telecommuting after the Sept. 11 attacks. "It was difficult in New York to get to the office, so people got used to working elsewhere."

Beyond the formal telework program, Fossaceca said, some managers allow their employees to work from home on a need basis. For example, if an employee is ill and doesn't fill like coming in to work, he or she might be able to work from home using a laptop.

Employers aren't the only ones reluctant to try telecommuting. Many employees with the option choose not to, as Gatto has found.

Part of the reason may be fear that working from home could sabotage a career.

Consider the survey released this month by executive-recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International. The firm surveyed 1,300 executives, 61 percent of whom said telecommuters are less likely to advance in their careers than their co-workers who get face-time in the office. This is despite the fact that 78 percent of the same executives said they think telecommuters get just as much work done as those who work in the office.

This doesn't surprise Rose Stanley, work-life practice leader for WorldatWork.

"This is a real issue," Stanley said. "The best advice I can give people is to strive to make sure the boss knows you're still working hard for your company."

And, she added, employees who have this fear may want to limit their telework to one day a week.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.

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PROS AND CONS
Employees:

Pros:

•Save time and money by eliminating or reducing commute to the office and cutting down on gas expenses

•Get more work done by cutting down on office interruptions

Cons:

•Risk of missing out on career advancement because of the lack of face-time in the office

•Some telecommuters complain of boredom and say they don't work as well alone as they do in the office


Employers:

Pros:

•Some studies show that telecommuters accomplish more than their co-workers who trek into the office because they're not as distracted

•Telecommuting helps companies prepare to keep businesses operating in the event of disaster or illness that could shut down the office

Cons:

•Not knowing exactly what your employees are doing during the day

•Not having everyone together at the same time for meetings