What Working from Home Means for Today's Moms
Thinking of leaving the rush hour traffic in your rear view?
It's 7 a.m. and as you go outside to pick up your daily newspaper, you see the neighbor across the street packing her kids in the car, hurling a briefcase in the trunk and sloshing coffee on the sidewalk (and her Jimmy Choos). You grab your paper and head back inside where your coffee is waiting for you. You're still in your pajamas and slippers, and you might even stay that way until it's time to pick up the kids from school. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Well, not all moms who work from home stay in their pajamas all day, but you can be assured that they miss the morning rush hour, avoid the stress and drama of working in an office, and are often more productive. So what's the real deal with working from home?
Crunch the Numbers
Over four million people worked at home in the year 2000, according to the U.S. Census. Fifty-three percent of those people were women! This should come as no surprise, but more and more women are fighting the idea that either career or family must take priority. Working from home helps many moms find the balance they need to divide equal attention among their work and children. Technology is now accessible to almost every household in the country, enabling moms the same functionality from home as any office.
Employers Get in on the Action
Not all moms who work at home have started their own business or rely solely on contract work. Employers are beginning to see the benefits of encouraging employees to set up a home office. Employees who telecommute save the company the overhead costs it would require to provide them with a high-rise office. Employees who work from home also spend the time they would normally spend commuting working at their computers. Studies have even shown that at-home employees left to fly solo are more productive all the way around. If you're currently working a full-time job, talk to your boss about the possibility of telecommuting. You have absolutely nothing to lose.
...But So Do Scammers
The first question for most moms who want to work from home is, "Who will hire me?" Do your research, but beware. There are many businesses claiming to offer moms lists of at-home jobs. It doesn't hurt to be cautious; there are just as many scammers out there as there are legitimate employers. A good rule of thumb is that you should NEVER have to pay to get work. The Internet is littered with ads offering envelope stuffing, product assembly and data entry jobs that pay an outrageous amount. Your mother probably told you a time or two that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Well, she was right. Isn't that totally annoying?
More and More Make the Move Home
But there's good news: the work-at-home job bank is growing not just by leaps and bounds, but hurdles and dives, too! More than 100,000 people are working from home as part of national call centers, according to the American research firm IDC. One hundred percent of the airline JetBlue's reservation agents are home-based, many of them working moms. The vast majority of JetBlue's employees are women in their 30s balancing home and career, working part-time shifts. In fact, most of JetBlue's employees have paired up into sharecare arrangements to watch each other's kids while another employee is on the phones. Since JetBlue has one rule - that kids cannot be heard over the customer service lines- this is a clever idea. An office-based call center in the U.S. can expect to lose around 65% of its employees a year. JetBlue's call center maintains 96.5% of its employees every year, a figure that shows that these home-based employees are satisfied. And in the world of air travel, where it seems there is one blunder after another, JetBlue only receives one customer service complaint per 300,000 calls.
Don't Expect TOTAL Autonomy
JetBlue's model supports the fact that an at-home working arrangement is beneficial to both employers and employees. Parents who want to be home with their kids and can do so while working simultaneously make better employees and better parents. But working at home doesn't mean complete autonomy. Working for a company like JetBlue, you can expect daily contact with a manager (usually by phone), visits to an office and monthly meetings. But JetBlue is still an anomaly for now. The majority of companies, worried about managing people offsite and potential money loss, are still sticking to traditional methods.
Starting a Home-Based Business
If your desire is to be completely self-sufficient, a home-based business could be ideal. The biggest question most at-home moms face is, "What kind of business is right for me?" Plenty of people will be happy to tell you what kind of business you should dive into, but no one should make this decision but you. Evaluate your skills and talents. Make a list if you need to. Research your abilities online and see if there are money-making opportunities out there for what you already know how to do. Visit online job sites and see what other moms are doing. Is there anything listed there that you can do better?
Effect on Income
One of the greatest benefits of working for yourself is that you have unlimited income potential. Being your own boss means no weekly salary. You only make what you earn through your hard work and motivation. It's not easy. Whichever work option you choose, remember why you wanted to work from home in the first place. Whether your reason was to try and see your child's first steps or to be able to drive your daughter to ballet lessons, write your reason on a sticky-note and post it on your computer monitor. Use it to remember why you embarked upon your crazy plan in the first place, and good luck!
