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Are flex time and telecommuting on the way out?

Posted Mar 25 2009, 06:28 PM by Karen Datko
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People who still have jobs are feeling lots of pressure to work longer and harder -- and also give up flexibility about when and where they work.

A Washington Post story reports that family-friendly arrangements like flex time and telecommuting appear to be losing the gains they had made in the American workplace in recent years.

It says employers see such programs as job-retention perks, and hardly any company needs those right now. For employees, they've provided better life-work balance and increased work productivity. Why would any employer meddle with that?

In fact, the article observes that some companies are increasing at-home work opportunities as a way to cut costs. Many more, however, are equating face time with retention.

The trend is particularly noticeable among female employees. The story says:

Employment lawyers, work-life coaches and groups across the country that advocate for working mothers say they're hearing from women who are afraid to ask for flexible work arrangements, feel pressure to end such arrangements, or in some cases have been forced out for not giving them up.

Worse yet, the story says government efforts to require paid sick time and family leave for workers are being defeated or put on hold. Compared with basics like those, flex time and working from home seem like luxuries, but not having them would hurt families too. The story says:

There's now a "silent fright" among workers, said Joanne Brundage, executive director of Mothers & More, a 21-year-old networking group, likening the atmosphere to what she saw 20 years ago, when working mothers were advised not to keep pictures of their children in their cubicles.

Related reading:

Why your boss won't let you telecommute

How to convince your boss to let you telecommute

The slow-motion retirement

Keeping your job in a tough economy

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Comments

 

I believe in hard work, being honest and doing the best I can at everything I do but I also think that employers cut their nose off when they start reigning in the tiny perks we get along with our paychecks.  I will never just work to be working again; I will be pickier about where I am employed.  Employers need good workers and employees but the same is true for employees and workers; we need our employers to show more loyalty and respect for the work we do.  It is not at all just about a paycheck; it is about also feeling good about the job and the companies and businesses we work for.  I never minded working hard or staying late but what are these companies and businesses doing for us, the employee?

christy elmasri (Posted 03.25.09 11:45 PM ) Report Abuse

You have to realize that loyalty from the company side is not as great as it once was.  They definately want it from the employee!  The 20 year employee is becoming more and more rare!  Sometimes I think the thought process is we can hire 2 $30k a year employees and get more than we can from 1 $60K a year employee!!

JWS (Posted 03.26.09 7:03 AM ) Report Abuse

I agree with Christy.  From here on out, I'll be my own boss and be my own loyal employee.  No more making money for other people.  An employee with 20 years experience who knows what they are doing can do 3 times as much as two less-experience employees, in half the time.  Wall Street is one example of what inexperienced zeal can get you.  Having face-time is an old way of thinking.  Employees don't work hard because they feel threatened, or because the boss is watching them.  The most productive employees are those who enjoy their jobs, feel a sense of loyalty to a company they believe values their skills and contributions.  That's the only type of company I will run, and those are the only kind of people I will hire.  I don't need to babysit grown people.

Robin Walls (Posted 03.26.09 7:21 AM ) Report Abuse

I think telecommuting makes sense.

However, too FREQUENTLY women with small children do it and you hear the kids in the background. I worked at a place with a woman who did this and you would hear her baby on conference calls.

Very , very unprofessional. Mgr. should have called her on it as there was a policy about not using telecommuting for child care.

So, ladies, if you want the privilege, don't abuse it. Have kids taken care of by someone else. If you can't do work at home without a kid's noise in the background, then dont do it at all.

And don't say your employer is biased against women it is just an employer wanting a professional environment.

Same thing with women that bring their kids to work because there is a problem with daycare that day or kid is sick.

If you do this, you shouldn't wonder why employer doesn't promote or keep you  

John Doe (Posted 03.26.09 11:41 AM ) Report Abuse

I'm a telecommuting employee running a dept. with 12 other telecommuting employees. In my entire career, it's been rare to work with anyone in the same country, not to mention the same office. Outsourcing has been the norm. My rule of thumb is, if I can measure your productivity  if my standards are met,and  if nobody on a team working with us has a complaint, if you can remote in to all of your functions, then go for it!

And the result....I have employees putting in all of their hours and loving it. We all save on commute costs, most save on child care, and if your child makes noise during a meeting you're obligated to share the story later.

We IM as if we were in the same room.

We've had zero people leave our group in two years, and we continue to grow. Sicktime due to family issues  is down and job appreciation is up.

I can't see us doing things any other way.

A professional environment is one that produces results

Contented (Posted 03.26.09 7:13 PM ) Report Abuse

American companies remained focused on the greed of short term gain at any epxense to protect their officers and directors.  What we have today is a result of the approach.

Pat (Posted 03.26.09 8:41 PM ) Report Abuse

So:

NO to telecommuting for American employees.

YES to teleconferencing with the Indian folks who've replaced us?

Hmmmm.....

TheBobs (Posted 03.26.09 9:36 PM ) Report Abuse

Should have mentioned that my telecommuters are also in the US - there's no replacement of US representation by other countries, just a lot of offices.

Contented (Posted 03.26.09 11:13 PM ) Report Abuse

John Doe -- what about the men who bring their kids to work when there is a problem?  Oh, wait a minute, maybe that doesn't happen.  Is it because the men are so super professional that they always make meticulous child care arrangements for their children and women do not?  Or is it because those women's husbands have the choice of take child to work/stick wife with the responsibility of working it out, and the wife only has the choice of take child to work/leave child home alone.

M (Posted 03.27.09 12:50 AM ) Report Abuse

well said, M

GK (Posted 03.27.09 6:31 AM ) Report Abuse

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