LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- Home health care provider LHC Group Inc. says it has completed its acquisition of the home health service line of Addus HomeCare Corp.
The deal, announced on Feb. 7 and completed Thursday, involves 19 home health agencies and two hospice agencies in five states.
Purchase price was $20 million for Addus HomeCare, based in Palatine, Ill.
Lafayette-based LHC Group now operates at more than 300 locations in 23 states.
The world’s largest software maker Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has launched its new software, Office 365 for business communities. Office 365 is a cloud-based software suite officially launched in 2011. It is offered to customers in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) format.
Microsoft launched the latest version of Office 365, based on the version of Office launched last month. It is called Office 2013 if purchased as a straight software and Office 365 Premium Home edition if purchased annually.
The company is offering different pricing plans for an annual subscription of the Office 365 suite. For instance, Office 365 ProPlus is intended for large organizations and priced at $144.0 per user. Office 365 Midsize Business comes at a cost of $180.0 per user whereas Office 365 Small Business Premium costs $150.0 per user annually.
The new Office comes with the traditional word processing, spreadsheets and email programs that can be purchased singly or in combination.
Microsoft’s Office 365 is gaining traction in the market as it recently launched its online version focusing on touch devices. Further, it is being deployed at the stores of retailers such as J. C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) and U.K.-based Tesco as well as government departments such as the Texas Department of Information Resources, which chose the software for inter-departmental activities.
The latest to join the bandwagon is the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (:IFRC), which also signed a MoU with Microsoft.
Currently, just like other PC makers, Microsoft is also battling the slump in the PC market caused by the sluggish economy. In addition, the popularity of smartphones and tablets from Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) has been cannibalizing PC market sales, further deteriorating the scenario. Whether it can come out of the slump on the back of its new software and OS is a wait-and-see game.
As per research conducted by IDC, cloud-based services may grow into a $100.0 billion market by 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.0%. Cloud services are expected to drive the growth in IT going forward, generating 41.0% of overall growth in IT by 2016. Thus, the strengthening of Microsoft’s position in the segment is encouraging, as the PC market is showing no signs of revival in the near future.
Microsoft reported revenues, excluding deferrals, of $21.46 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2013, which was up 34.0% sequentially and 2.7% from last year, in line with our estimates. All except the Entertainment & Devices segment grew both sequentially and from the year-ago quarter. Entertainment & Devices were down year over year.
Whitby's bylaw on home-based businesses needs more teeth. WHITBY -- Gordon Mackey the CEO of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce spoke at a public meeting regarding the operation of home-based businesses. The meeting was held to gather input from residents regarding plans to update current zoning rules related to home-based businesses. February 19, 2013. Ron Pietroniro / Metroland I'm sure 90 per cent of the home-based businesses will be fine but it's that 10 per cent that will cause problems. Michael Babier, Whitby resident WHITBY -- Without adequate means to enforce a new bylaw related to home-based businesses in Whitby, some residents believe the rules could be more trouble than they're worth. Several residents spoke up during a public meeting on Feb. 19, poking holes in Town staff's recommended changes to Whitby's policy on home-based businesses.
"The bylaw spends a lot of energy defining all kinds of specific types of businesses ... based on the theory that you can define a business which may or may not have the impacts that you're trying to limit, and I think it would be far more preferable to regulate the impacts," said resident Doug Anderson.
Various potential impacts of home-based businesses on surrounding neighbourhoods were discussed at the meeting, including parking, noise and traffic issues.
Whitby is updating its policy on home-based businesses with a set of proposed changes, which are intended to harmonize the process of permitting various uses. Examples of home-based businesses include baking or catering operations, registered massage therapy, esthetician services, pet grooming and music or art instruction.
The Town's official plan allows home-based businesses in residential areas subject to certain criteria and performance standards, as well as compliance with zoning bylaws. However, Whitby's zoning bylaws, approved in the 1960s, have not been amended to implement the direction of the official plan. Currently, older zoning provisions for areas such as the downtown allow home occupations but they are not identified as a permitted use in newer subdivisions.
"You need to have enforcement with teeth (because) there are going to be nuisances that come up," said Michael Babier, owner of a home-based business and a resident of downtown Whitby for eight years.
"I'm sure 90 per cent of the home-based businesses will be fine but it's that 10 per cent that will cause problems."
Some residents, including Peter Heron of Brooklin, were in favour of the Town using a licensing system to regulate home-based businesses.
"If you're going to put a home-based business in, then get permission from adjoining properties," Mr. Heron said.
"They should be applying for a licence every year and they should have to re-apply ever year. That way, the planning department knows the location, they conform to the laws, the fire department knows the location and they can do their yearly inspections."
Staff will return to council with an updated report, taking into consideration input from the public, as well as exploring the possibility of licensing.
Those who were unable to attend the meeting can submit their comments in writing by mail or personal delivery to Whitby's planning department no later than 4:30 p.m. on Monday, March 11. Written submissions should be made to the Town Clerk, Corporation of the Town of Whitby, 575 Rossland Rd. E., Whitby, ON L1N 2M8.
Residents debate pros and cons of various issues related to home-based businesses:
Point:
- Licensing would be a useful tool for town staff to enforce the bylaw and would provide official records to the fire department or other authorities for each home-based business in case of violations or an emergency.
- Existing on-street parking issues will only be exasperated by the increase of home-based businesses in neighbourhoods.
- There isn't enough focus on enforcement of parking bylaws in problematic areas, such as the downtown.
- To address noise impact and other related concerns, staff is recommending instructional activity such as academic tutoring, creative arts or fitness classes, be limited to no more than five people at any one time.
- To help control traffic, staff is recommending that no retail sales be permitted other than the sale of what is produced or repaired on site.
Counterpoint:
- Licensing would require additional administrative staff, resulting in more hours and increased costs.
- Parking in residential areas is not as big an issue as some people suggest; issues can be handled on a case by case basis.
- Additional staff and resources are required to enforce parking bylaw for a greater length of time.
- Bylaw cannot effectively enforce number of people in homes; five people should be a base number with the opportunity for individual assessment for more people depending on the individuals needs of each business.
- Retail sales should be allowed as long as these do not to disturb the typical flow of traffic in an area -- deal with it on a complaint basis.
Reporter Parvaneh Pessian covers the town of Whitby for Metroland Media Group's Durham Region DivisionYork, PA -
Jennifer Bradbury turned her family's love of goats into a home-based business courted by fine restaurants.
Apparently, Bradbury -- who has been in business for roughly five years as owner and operator of Dover Township-based Camelot Valley, which produces artisan goat cheeses -- is part of a growing trend.
"I'm amazed at the upsurge of ideas," Mike Smeltzer, executive director of the Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania, said of local people who transform a hobby or invention into home-based businesses.
Steps involved in creating such a venture start with local municipal laws, including zoning compliance, he said.
Home-based facilities must be safe,
Jennifer Bradbury milks one of her goats used to make cheese at her Dover Towship business, Camelot Valley. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- JASON PLOTKIN)secure and covered by adequate insurance, Smeltzer said. "Write a business plan," he said. "Make sure all the legal things are done to protect your idea."
Additionally, a marketing and manufacturing plan will be needed, he said.
"If you're going to make serious money, you've got to produce volume," Smeltzer said. "You want to find a way to get your product to the market."
While the process isn't always easy, there are perks to running a home-based manufacturing operation.
The pros?
"Easiest commute ever," Dru Peters, the "farmer's wife" at Sunnyside Farm in Newberry Township, said via email. The 10-year-old business grows products, including chemical-free vegetables, chickens, eggs, beef, pork and turkeys. "Being our own boss, as hard as we work, means we get more from each day than when we were employees. We can have ideas, implement and reap the rewards."
And then there are the cons.
"Everything depends on us, there is not anyone else to take up the slack," she said. "Luckily, we are in good health and decent shape and love what we do."
Other local home-based manufacturers shared similar stories.
Phil Hausman, owner of Phatty P's Hot Sauce in Manchester Township, started his business at home about 10 years ago when he developed his own recipe.
"I grow my own peppers in my backyard," he said, adding he followed a trial-and-error method to concoct his hot sauces and used neighbors and friends as taste testers.
Today, Hausman sells his gourmet sauces -- which are bottled in Lancaster -- on his company's website, Facebook page and at local stores, including J & J Cycle Barn in Manchester Township. "It's been an interesting venture."
Rob Seufert, runs a pickle operation at his home in Windsor Township.
In order to manufacture food products, he had to secure approval from the state department of agriculture, he said of starting his company, Epic Pickles, roughly two years ago.
"I love to cook," he said. "And a business was born."
Seufert, a former full-time graphic designer, now works primarily in his pickle business. His products, which include handcrafted, traditional pickles such as kosher and garlic varieties, plus unique dishes, including Chesapeakles reminiscent of Maryland steamed crabs, are used by restaurants including The Cove in Spring Garden Township, The Left Bank in York, Cork and Cap Restaurant in Lancaster and Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis.
"I'm trying to go full-force pickles," he said. "I'm going to take it as far as it will go."
Do you have an idea?
Got a great idea for an invention, but don't know how to get it off the ground?
You're not alone, said Mike Smeltzer, executive director of the Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania.
Smeltzer is working with surrounding counties to develop resources for local inventors.
He said he's frequently approached by people in search of a way to carry their idea through the development and verification process.
"The economy has had a lot to do with it," he said of people who lost jobs and need a new way to make money.
"It's the creativity unleashed," Smeltzer said of the wave of upcoming entrepreneurs. "It's happening, and we'd better be prepared to nurture, develop and support it to help it grow."
To fuel the effort, he's working with people from York, Lancaster, Adams, Dauphin and Franklin counties to create a website and other community outreach methods to help local folks bring their ideas to fruition.
"It's focused on economic development," Smeltzer said. "It's making sure that everyone in the community is aware of all resources available."
Every location will likely have a specific method to achieve the goal, he said, but the outcome for all will probably include a "how to" list with possibilities for research institutions, such as Penn State University.
"You need to have a vision," he said. "Where's the next Microsoft? Maybe it's here."
Advertising the new resources via traditional publicity, such as billboards and books, as well as new technology, including social media, will also be considered, he said of reaching seasoned and younger generations of inventors.
"We've got to satisfy both interests," Smeltzer said. "(Inventors) are looking for like-minded people."
PLAINVIEW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — The chorus of criticism is getting louder after Internet giant Yahoo! told staff they could no longer work from home, starting June 1.
Across Long Island, bosses and employees have mixed views on the issue of telecommuting.
Dominique Pristina works as an event planner for Creative Games in Hicksville. For her, there is no 9-to-5 or office clock to punch since her work can be done from anywhere.
“I have my own at-home desk and computer. I can log in from there. My phone gets directed here so all the calls that come into the office I can answer on my cell phone,” Pristina told CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff on Wednesday.
Pristina’s boss said his decision to adopt a flexible work policy to retain trained employees has worked.
“I’ve been away and worked a full week’s schedule on an iPhone so I don’t understand how, at this point, you couldn’t do things from home that you could do at the office,” said Erick Mauro of Creative Games, Inc.
His happy workers agree, especially women who intend to balance work with motherhood.
“If you could get the same amount of work done, it’s better for you and the company,” event planner Lauren Cassella told Gusoff.
A national debate over workplace flexibility has been swirling since Yahoo!’s stunning reversal banning work-from-home arrangements.
The company’s new CEO, Marissa Mayer, has come under fire. She built a nursery next to her office for her own newborn.
Mayer announced she was pregnant shortly after taking the helm last year.
Yahoo! reportedly told workers that speed and quality are sacrificed when employees work from home.
At software company Incentient in Plainview, the company’s CEO said he agrees with Yahoo!’s move. He has phased out telecommuting for his own employees.
“There’s no way we can instantly assemble work groups and work teams throughout the day to meet the needs of a changing business when everyone is at home,” Incentient CEO Pat Martucci told Gusoff.
Yahoo! is saying little publicly other than its decision is not a broad view on working from home, just about what is right for Yahoo! now.
A Yahoo! spokesman said the company will not comment further on internal matters.
Do you think telecommuting should be banned by certain companies? Sound off in the comments section below…
Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Centennial Bank, provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has locations in Central Arkansas, North Central Arkansas, Southern Arkansas, the Florida Keys, Southwestern Florida, Central Florida, the Florida Panhandle and South Alabama. The Company's common stock is traded through the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HOMB."
This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's plans, expectations, goals and outlook for the future. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements of this type speak only as of the date of this news release. By nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties. Various factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, credit quality, interest rates, loan demand, the ability to successfully integrate new acquisitions and changes in the assumptions used in making the forward-looking statements, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Additional information on factors that might affect Home BancShares, Inc.'s financial results are included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ATLANTA, Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, the region's premier go-to resource for elegant home design ideas and inspiration, has launched its newly re-designed site, AtlantaHomesMag.com, to enhance the user experience for both local businesses and homeowners. With a streamlined design, improved search functionality and rich multi-media content, the new AtlantaHomesMag.com makes it easier for consumers to find home design ideas, resources and professionals.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130226/NY66531LOGO )
"We are excited to launch the next generation Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles site to connect affluent, engaged homeowners and shoppers to our advertisers, faster and easier," said Gina Christman, publisher of Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles. "More than ever, we're empowering local businesses to strengthen their online brand presence in the marketplace to attract shoppers, drive increased business, and generate more ways to interact with qualified consumers."
When a consumer comes to the new Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles site for home design ideas, they will find even more relevant content for inspiration, resources and professionals. For advertisers, the new site offers them a stronger Web presence, more lead-capturing, enhanced traffic from organic and referral search, and increased opportunities to reach prospective customers.
Key site features include:
Concierge, a 400-word story highlighting a home design business's work. Limited to 24 total profiles with prime placement on the home page and all subsequent landing pages in rotations of six, each Concierge listing features unlimited photos, bio, logo, contact info, web site link, ask a question/get a quote functionality, social media connections to Facebook and Twitter accounts, and video upload capability. Sourcebook, an online design center and go-to source for visitors searching for products, services and professionals. Featured prominently on the home page and subsequent landing pages, searchable by category/alpha, the Resource Portfolio features a custom page for every listing that includes 20 photos, 250-word bio, logo, contact info, web site link, and ask a question/get a quote functionality. Run of Site Digital Display Ads offering exclusivity as one of only 16 advertisers rotating through 4 positions on the site, every landing page, every blog page, every day for one year. Videos custom-produced by Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles featured on the site and YouTube for one year. Included is social media announcement, two-week promotion on the home page, and video archived at www.AtlantaHomesMag.com.For 30 years, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles has attracted affluent homeowners through its monthly full-color glossy magazine, web site and social media channels, making it the most established, well-respected home design brand in the Atlanta market. Through its multimedia channels, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles delivers a monthly audience of more than 568,700 consumers who are actively searching for home design products and services and connects them with advertisers, some of the most respected businesses in the region's marketplace.
About Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles
Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles is a part of Network Communications, Inc., a leading local media company providing lead generation, advertising and Internet marketing services to the luxury and multi-family segments of the housing industry. The Company's leading brands are Apartment Finder, DigitalSherpa, Unique Homes, New England Home and Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles. The Company's strategy focuses on providing high-quality and measurable marketing solutions to local clients by leveraging its proprietary prospect-focused distribution, social media and online franchises, and content management infrastructure.
This transcript is automatically generated
If they have time obvious question that Republicans completely lost that Ronald -- -- for -- More politicians other -- -- raising revenue might be the right thing to do the senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain are two of them.
They met with the president today at the White House -- sensibly on immigration but on -- vocal founder Bernie Marcus.
-- doesn't believe there's all budget -- didn't come up including there potential solution that would include.
Higher taxes since the senators share common ground with the president on revenues what then.
And the possibly -- be included in dealing with any budget mess.
All right aunt Bernie I'm listening to this and hearing has some wondering.
I I don't know -- revenues -- the problem here.
Well -- If I had very serious concussion I don't think I go to a podiatrist.
To get my nails cut on my feet I mean this is it's so ludicrous it just doesn't make any sense we have.
A situation.
Where -- raised the taxes.
75%.
On people army which is probably something that some of the Democrats out there would like to do.
What does it do it doesn't solve any of the issues it's not -- over the debt we're still going to be and in terrible that.
It's gonna continue to go to sixty to seventy to -- people -- Earnings relative value care about -- -- and they -- -- the debt doesn't matter spending isn't my problem on so it state it's it's not -- it's invisible.
Then than your your fighting Claude Rains here.
Well you know what they may be eyes yeah I've heard a couple of Republicans say.
You know what let the president do -- he's gonna do.
And then after he destroys the economy kills businesses.
Then we'll have a chance to get back in office.
What -- just got to do with getting back into office what's it got to do with politics my god we -- people.
Over twenty million people out of work today jobs and not being created in the United States -- really as we speak.
You don't see it happening unemployment is still at a very high level and why are we addressing the things that really make a difference.
Rather than talking about the politics of it.
The president is running on as though he still.
The the way I look at -- November's another election for him.
The election's over my god if you look at small business people you know -- I'm involved with something called the job creators alliance and this is small business people.
And that's where I was many many years ago and I remember those days where we're pretty hard -- They are struggling today -- all the small business people I've talked to an America today.
70% of them think that Washington is actually anti business I happen agree with them.
They think -- too many regulations they think taxes.
-- less tax bill.
Coming out most of these people off the you know there are there of their subchapter -- they play ordinary income money taxes.
This is not gonna help create jobs how would -- to create jobs for the millions of people out there that needed.
They're that I really what a leader make of how Wall Street is doing what this and how companies are doing odd sort of Urals on the company founded I mean -- Home Depot is buybacks at any billion dollars -- its on site others are.
Are merging together rather -- to -- and a new businesses.
Others are taking results private but in other words most of the cases I just cited Bernie is you know far better than on.
Are they did not -- -- -- -- new businesses so much is trying to secure a nail down the wrong.
And I I I think that -- -- about their anxiety.
Over this recovery and it's tepid nature.
-- you know -- you just hit -- it they're not investing what they're nodded doing did not growing.
The way they normally would have grown hey listen.
Even big business is up space and I'm not speaking for Home Depot today because I'm not a I'm outside the company -- -- on the board -- not management so.
I I can only talk about people that I know outside of Home Depot.
This struggling with -- obamacare.
I mean I don't know how I would hate to be a CEO today I'm just think about.
We you have a thousand people working for you that you -- with insurance.
And you see insurance is going up twenty and 30% and by the way it will be going up -- 30% over the next period of time.
You're gonna have to double those people into obamacare and so they gonna go from a Cadillac service it to Medicare.
Which today is a very very bad.
You know that if you had I give you a perfect example Neil this is is actually happen of very different mind.
Who has a very serious back issue.
They're only maybe thirty people -- do the kind of operation she needs.
25 would not even talk to her because -- on Medicare and what do you think it's gonna happen to people out there this situation is desperate.
And so you're right deal.
Companies are not expanding.
When they are expanding by the way they are going to part time I -- promise you -- I've heard this across the board in the food industry and other industries.
They're hiring people 25 hours no -- -- passed when he five hours now how is that gonna help people.
Earn a living people can earn a living 125 hours.
-- what it's is a monopoly that actually adds itself Carol came in -- affect.
We have fewer people -- health insurance and or dead prior and that's you know that's -- yeah incredible irony you know.
I don't see I don't I look I don't look -- this way when I speak to people who are Democrats I spoke to one last night.
Who who's -- manufacturer.
You know and I asked him about this.
-- -- -- everything was over he said to be number one he thinks he made a mistake and number two.
He shipping jobs overseas wow -- Hattie -- figure that one.
So you know hypocritical on top of everything else it's it's not it's not good out there and the small business guys really getting -- I mean.
He's getting wrapped with that with that with taxes -- getting wrapped with the regulations.
You know this whole thing with the NLRB which I wrote an article on Wall Street Journal -- -- coming week.
Where you have three members that -- appointed in a recess what they say is a recess which courts that is not recess.
And now bid date they refuse to leave office and there's still this still doing to their thing is though nothing happen.
And so they've they've decide the hundred cases -- last year.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Did indicate billion aren't so if you're if you're guy they can't afford you know to pay a 100000 dollars for an attorney you're gonna get killed it it's not good.
It's not good Israeli good out there by the way.
Well if anything.
You you right now -- beautiful look where you know -- you know just to put this in perspective.
Couple of viewers knew we were gonna have you on tonight wanted to emailed me a lot -- -- Bernie Marcus on -- social Smart.
And sex.
That's all my god -- is sad and I get the saves.
But I mean but everybody -- there I don't know you'd have.
A -- it's always good have you Bernie and thank you for the -- -- -- our relative Bernie Marcus.
-- co-founder of Home Depot.
By Mauri Elbel
Special to Statesman Solutions
If you are looking for a more balanced life and career, you’re not alone.
“A recent survey we did of over 800 job seekers found that the number one reason they were looking for a telecommuting or flexible job was to find better work-life balance,” said Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of FlexJobs.com.
The key piece of advice she is offering those seeking greater work-life balance? Start looking now because jobs offering better work-life balance opportunities are out there––FlexJobs.com currently has a list of nearly 14,000 flexible jobs, some of which are based in Austin and many other positions across the country that don’t require relocating.
But the first step in the process is to determine what kind of job flexibility will help you achieve greater balance. While Fell said work-life balance can be feasibly found in almost any industry and at any career level, each individual must first understand what type of job flexibility and environment will help him or her reach it.
“The first thing is to determine what sort of job arrangement would work best for your situation,” said Fell. “You can’t start to search for jobs if you don’t know what you’re looking for, after all.”
Once you determine whether you want a work-from-home job, a part-time schedule, a contract job, a flexible schedule or some combination of those, then start searching. And Austin seems like a great place to look.
“An attribute that we are seeing more of in many of our companies here in Austin is trust,” said Barbara Salisbury, a professional leadership coach and owner of Forward Focus Coaching here in Austin. “They trust their employees to be responsible and to take ownership over their own results, schedules and career growth. There is no need for a time card in this environment and they want you to do what you do best.”
Companies that thrive on this self-management principle are diligent in their hiring process and looking for individuals that can express a shared vision of success for their company so that they can in turn release them to basically own their schedules and be responsible, she said.
“Fat companies used to be able to micro-manage their employees,” said Salisbury. “But many people are tired of that style of management, and frankly, many companies can no longer afford the management staff to do so.”
Fell said certain industries offer more opportunity for work-life balance than others, and the top 10 fields with the most flexible job listings are: medical and health, administrative, customer service, education and training, sales, accounting and finance, call centers, computer and IT, writing, and marketing. Within these categories, positions range from teachers and nurses to accountants and public relation professionals.
“These jobs all lend themselves to work-life balance because they offer flexible schedules, they can be done from home, they’re often contract or freelance positions, and they can be done full-time or part-time,” Fell said.
But when looking for flexible jobs, especially telecommuting jobs, Fell warned that scams do exist. If a job sounds too good to be true, asks for personal or confidential information or requires you to invest or pay to land the job, it is definitely a scam, she said. Research the company first to make sure it is legitimate before applying.
And if you do happen to be in the market for a new job that levels the time you spend working and living, here are a list of nine current jobs from FlexJobs.com known for their exceptional work-life balance attributes. Here Fell lists out the balance-friendly qualities of seven Austin-area jobs and two national positions you can do from Austin, and in most cases, your own home.
9 Great Work/Life Balance Jobs Currently Available in Austin
Job Title: Senior Vice President of Major Gifts for the American Heart Association
Job Description: Senior level executive will prospect and grow donor pipeline and manage donor relationships and affiliate partnerships to ensure sustained growth from major gifts income. Prefer candidate to have stewardship/cultivation experience. Home based option.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “Even though this is a large role with a lot of responsibility, it’s a full-time telecommuting job which means the job seeker will avoid long commutes, have more free time, and have more control over the structure of his or her day,” said Fell.
Job Title: Entry Level Financial Data Analyst for Special Counsel
Job Description: Entry level finance/accounting data analysts needed to perform heavy data entry and internet research. A bachelor of arts or science in business and/or finance preferred, or equivalent work experience required. Contract position.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “This is a great opportunity for a recent college graduate looking for flexibility because it’s a freelance or contract position, which gives the job seeker more control over their schedule, hours and methods of working,” said Fell.
Job Title: Texas Sales Representative for Ole Imports
Job Description: Leader in Texas fine wine industry wanted to work with distributors and call on accounts to ensure that sales goals are met. Requires a degree, at least one year direct wine sales experience and extensive travel. Work from home.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “Work-from-home sales positions are in high-demand by employers, so this sort of job is a great way for a professional to find more work-life balance in a growing field,” she said.
Job Title: Senior Programmer Analyst for Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc.
Job Description: Performing as a senior computer programmer, the senior programmer analyst will develop tools, create programs, and maintain program/process efficiency. Must have five years programming, database management, and clinical research experience. Full time, telecommute.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “Computer and IT jobs are some of the most available in the telecommuting and flexible job niche, and this type of job often comes with a flexible schedule or the ability to set your own hours,” Fell said.
Job Title: Administrative Assistant for the Princeton Review
Job Description: Educational service company seeks assistant to: answer phones, sort and distribute messages, order supplies, and track teacher/student attendance records. Prior experience in education and one year admin preferred, and MS Office proficient. Part Time.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “A part-time position is perfect for anyone who wants or needs to keep one foot in the working world while stepping into other roles such as parent or caregiver, or who needs a lighter schedule because of disabilities or other responsibilities,” said Fell.
Job Title: Benefits Counselor for Lincoln Financial Group
Job Description: Benefits counselor needed to explain employee benefits in an easy-to-understand manner. Sell financial services and products at the employer’s site. Ensure compliance with federal regulations. Three to five years of similar experience needed. Part-time; on-call; 90 percent travel; home office.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “In this human resources role, you have the opportunity to work part-time from home, so you can maintain your career and have time for personal responsibilities and interests as well,” Fell said.
Job Title: Area Director for the American Foundation for Suicide Protection
Job Description: Area director will be responsible for running the signature event for an area chapter of a national nonprofit organization. Bachelor’s degree and experience with event planning and nonprofits is required. Work from home with some travel required.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “This is an excellent example of how telecommuting can work for employees and employees,” said Fell. “The employer, in this case, is a national organization who is able to expand their reach by hiring local talent to work from home. The employee will gain a job with a national company but not have to worry about relocating and can work from home instead.”
Job Title: Telephone Triage Nurse for Alere (U.S. national position)
Job Description: The telephone triage nurse will possess an Illinois RN license and five-plus years of direct patient care experience. Bilingual skills desired. Responsibilities include working with patients and providing healthcare assistance. Full time; telecommute.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “Healthcare is the number one career category for jobs that offer work-life balance, with more jobs available than any other category,” said Fell. “Nursing is one of the big occupations that is open to telecommuting and part-time schedules, and nurses are able to continue helping patients from the comfort of their home offices.”
Job Title: Secondary English Teacher for Connections Academy (U.S. national position)
Job Description: Secondary English teacher with multiple state certification, online teaching experience, and a masters highly desired for a part-time position teaching online instructional courses. Will telecommute from a home office.
Balance-Friendly Qualities: “Virtual schools are becoming increasingly popular as a means of educating students who are in some ways at-risk or special-needs, and this has opened the door for teachers to find telecommuting positions,” said Fell. “Teachers can conduct lessons, tutor students, administer tests, and help children grow in a virtual environment with part-time or full-time schedules.”
DENVER, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As businesses debate anew the merits of telecommuting in the wake of the Yahoo! public relations controversy, Productivity Expert Mary C. Kelly, PhD, says the issue comes down to accountability and leadership.
"If managers and supervisors are doing their jobs by keeping their employees accountable, then telecommuting is a non-issue," said Kelly, an economist and leadership coach who presents keynote speeches and training sessions for financial services companies, associations, and conferences.
"Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer should set the expectations, give managers the authority to take action for non-productive employees, and reward the people who are producing great results," said Kelly, author of "360 Degrees of Leadership."
"Telecommuting is cost-effective and remarkably efficient if key components of accountability, trust, and performance are in place," said Kelly, an internationally acclaimed leadership expert and business communication expert.
"Telecommuting saves money for both employees and employers. Employers don't have to provide office space, phones, desks, or utilities for employees who work from home," she said.
Employees don't have to spend money on work clothes, lunches out, or waste time and gas driving to and from work.
It should be the perfect situation, but both sides have to work to make telecommuting profitable.
Managers of telecommuters need to make sure that the work is completed, and that telecommuters are as much a part of the work team as those who physically show up.
Employees need to guard against the out-of-sight-out-of-mind syndrome. There may be a perception that working from home involves long naps and extensive gym time, so employees have to work to reassure managers with meeting deadlines, delivering results, and effectively communicating.
"Employees have to understand that working from home seems like a great option, especially for those caring for another person, but it is still a job," she said. "Part of doing a job well means being responsive to their supervisors or company requests for information (which was the catalyst for Yahoo) and fulfilling all requirements of that position."
Telecommuting also means employees still need to show up for meetings, answer client questions, perform site visits, and be present any time the boss asks.
Canceling a telecommuting arrangement could cause other problems.
"Reneging on a promise to hire people as telecommuters by adopting a blanket policy seems unfair, especially if the employee spent thousands of dollars to buy office equipment, or turned down other job offers that offered telecommuting," she said.
"People who have not been doing their jobs should be counseled, put on improvement plans, or released," she said. "Great workers will be wildly productive wherever they are. Poor workers will not."
For information about Mary C. Kelly's keynote speeches or leadership consulting services, go to www.ProductiveLeaders.com.
About Mary C. KellyWith over twenty years of leadership experience and a diverse background leading teams in the U.S. and abroad, Dr. Mary Kelly makes productivity and leadership a reality for all levels of an organization. She trained over 40,000 military personnel and led multi-cultural teams in 11 countries.
Dr. Kelly delivers tools that increase productivity and profits.
She is a renowned leadership coach, speaker and author, specializing in maximizing available resources. She has extensive experience in human resources, finance, insurance, organizational leadership, and project development.
She is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and spent over 20 years on active duty in intelligence and logistics. She has masters' degrees in history and economics, and a PhD in economics.
She is the author of 10 books, including "Master Your World" and "15 Ways to Grow Your Business in Every Economy."
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Based on the reaction, Yahoo! (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer is a complete idiot.
Kara Swisher of All Things D broke the news with a leaked memo: Yahoo! will stop allowing employees to work from home. Despite widespread (and unfounded) reporting that this is a hard-and-fast, black-and-white policy, a source tells me a procedure is likely in place for exceptions.
In the memo from Swisher's story, notice this line: If this [policy] impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. From what I understand, the "next steps" are not a simple either/or, work in an office or quit.
I know of at least one employee who has petitioned direct management. This employee expects to hear back from Mayer in 30-60 days to see if the CEO approves a request to continue to work at home. This employee is a productive Yahoo! veteran. In some cases, Mayer might have no other choice but to grant exceptions.
Swisher followed up her scoop by surveying the tech landscape inside and outside of Yahoo!. This spawned two primary conclusions:
Marissa Mayer sucks. Or she's merely looking to create a culture of collaboration that (A) lacks at Yahoo! and (B) will spur the type of innovation we see from Google (GOOG).
Of course, general sentiment slants in the "Mayer sucks" direction.
Even the famous urbanist, author of The Creative Class and University of Toronto professor Richard Florida, thinks Mayer made a bad move:
As much as I love Florida and respect his work, he misses the point as well. Or at least he speculates past what might be the lead.
Florida claims the "good [Yahoo! employees] will leave, mediocre will stay." That's quite an assumption. If a CEO instituted this policy at a company other than Yahoo! -- one with relatively solid morale and startup culture intact -- he might have a point. Why come down on people operating on all cylinders and getting the job done?
If you're a Steve Jobs fan, you realize what's happening here. Mayer is cleaning up something Jobs always feared at Apple (AAPL): A bozo explosion.
Over the years at Yahoo!, incompetent people hired more incompetent people who went on to hire even more incompetent people. These B-players maintained the status quo, while implementing all of the perks Silicon Valley and other tech staffers have come to expect and enjoy. At Yahoo!, working at home became expected, not a convenient consequence of competence.
Mayer is simply making another move -- in a long series of moves -- to clean up the mess. Firing people is a pain in the ass. And layoffs look bad.
Do you really think Mayer did not, in some way, communicate with the A-players (or at least their direct managers) ahead of making this move? She's using this "edict" to further streamline a bloated, self-entitled and largely ineffective segment of the workforce. That much should be obvious. And, based on what I mentioned earlier in this article, there very well could be exceptions. It will be interesting to see how Mayer handles these things case-by-case.
There might be contractual obstacles. Or solid employees who work in a city nowhere near a Yahoo! office.
As such, valuable A-players who work at home -- and are caught in an unfortunate crossfire -- know the score. It would not surprise me if Mayer (quietly) makes alternative arrangements with the A-players or asks for their patience and compensates them for their troubles in some other way.
Certainly, I am speculating just like Mayer's detractors, but, frankly, it's far more logical and rational speculation. I consider very real contexts from which Mayer might have made this decision. I do not cast her off as a bumbling fool who made an errant move. That's not the Marissa Mayer I have watched lead Yahoo! for the last 7-8 months, presiding over a roughly 35% increase in her company's stock price.
If Mayer misfired at all, it was by not properly anticipating how the media would spin this thing in the court of public opinion. Everybody from Richard Florida to Richard Branson couldn't run fast enough to jump on the bandwagon. Branson, another guy I have endless respect for, surprisingly simplifies the situation when he says, Give people the freedom of where to work and they will excel.
Sorry. As loyal as I am to Virgin America, I can't buy that. Has Branson paid any attention to Yahoo! over the last decade or so? They hardly constructed a culture of excellence.
As Twitter follower Mick McDonnal stated so concisely: If you are not familiar with current culture at Yahoo!, you're not in a position to criticize.
I thought the current culture was quite evident, but I guess I was wrong. Here's hoping Mayer stands her ground and handles this adversity in Steve Jobs' style. In this case, if she asks and does what Steve would do, she'll end up doing what's right.
Follow @rocco_thestreet!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");
--Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.
>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints
FREE for a limited time only: Get TheStreet Ratings #1 Stock Report NOW!
TRY IT FREEJim Cramer and Stephanie Link actively manage a real portfolio and reveal their money management tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.
$2.5+ million portfolioLarge-cap and dividend focusIntraday trade alerts from CramerWeekly roundupsTRY IT FREEJim Cramer's protege, David Peltier, identifies the best of breed dividend stocks that will pay a reliable AND significant income stream.
Weekly dividend newsletterDiversifed model portfolio of dividend stocksIntraday trade alertsTRY IT FREEJim Cramer's protégé, David Peltier, uncovers low dollar stocks with extraordinary upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.
Model portfolioStocks trading below $10Intraday trade alertsWeekly roundupsTRY IT FREE24/7 market commentary from Jim Cramer and 20+ veteran Wall Street gurus. Get access to the latest trading ideas on stocks, options, and ETFs as well as a real-time forum to see the pros exchanging their investment ideas.
Jim Cramer + 20 Wall Street prosIntraday commentary & newsReal-time trading forumActionable trade ideasTRY IT FREEAll of Real Money, plus 15 more of Wall Street's sharpest minds delivering actionable trading ideas, a comprehensive look at the market, and fundamental and technical analysis.
Real Money + Doug Kass + 15 more Wall Street ProsIntraday commentary & newsUltra-actionable trading ideasTRY IT FREEOur options trading pros provide daily market commentary and over 100 monthly option trading ideas and strategies to help you become a well-seasoned trader.
100+ monthly options trading ideasActionable options commentary & newsReal-time trading communityOptions TVCleveland, OH (PRWEB) February 27, 2013
SkipTheDrive is a brand new job board for those looking to telecommute; tailored towards connecting job seekers all over the world with companies all over the world. What is a telecommuting job? This kind of job allows people to work remotely, such as from the comfort of their own home, coffee shop, etc. Also known as "virtual employment", it is the perfect option for those who want to develop their work-from-home career, avoid daily commutes, have more time at home with their family, earn supplemental income in addition to their daily jobs, or work as freelancers and independent contractors.Corporate trends are changing. The way people do business has become more and more virtual over the years. In order to stay current with the trends, companies have created a number of telecommuting jobs that can be completed remotely so long as one has the necessary skills and a trusty computer to do the work. SkipTheDrive aims to be at the forefront of assisting the growing virtual business community. Their virtual job board, offering both full and part-time positions, is more direct and personal than standard job boards because it is tailored to fit this specific niche.
It is completely free to register on the site, with absolutely no charge to job seekers. For employers who choose to post jobs, SkipTheDrive currently offers incredibly reasonable rates at $29 per standard job posting and $39 per premium job posting. Every employer's job posting will be tweeted live as they come in. All members and visitors are invited to follow SkipTheDrive on Twitter and Facebook so they can be updated with the latest job postings and industry news. Job seekers can also sign up for email alerts that will notify them when newly posted jobs match their criteria.
Professionals seeking positions on SkipTheDrive can expect to see many job postings coming from the software/web development industry, health care, engineering, recruitment, workforce analysis and customer service. There is no limit on what jobs companies can seek telecommuters for, so expect to see a broad spectrum of jobs!
Register today and start on your new career path. It’s time to get out of the office and “skip the drive!”
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet giant Yahoo! said it was ordering its employees who have been working at home to report back to their company offices.
In a note posted online, Yahoo! said some work qualities are enhanced by having employees in the same location.
"Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home," the posting said.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that analysts studying the issue have concluded that innovation improves when workers interact with each other but productivity goes up when they work from home.
"If you want innovation, then you need interaction. If you want productivity, then you want people working from home," said John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University.
Besides the loss of innovation, "A lot of companies are afraid to let their workers work from home some of the time or all of the time because they're afraid they'll lose control," said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger Gray & Christmas, an outplacement and executive employment agency.
But some see irony in Yahoo!'s decision. Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer was hired from Google when she was 37 and pregnant, leaving many to believe she would be an advocate for flexible work arrangements.
Secondly, Yahoo! is a child of Silicon Valley and an Internet company, which is in a large way responsible for the cultural switch that allows, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says, 24 percent of workers to do at least part of their jobs from home.
Mayer, however, is following Google and Facebook on this, the Times said.
Both of those technology firms prefer workers to work at company offices, although some work from home on a "case-by-case basis," the Times said.
Thumbs down: Kyrie O'Connor finds Marissa Mayer's order appalling. E1
SAN FRANCISCO - Working remotely has long been a sort of utopian vision of employment. And today, with computers and smartphones able to connect us, we can easily escape arduous commutes and cramped offices and get jobs done from the comfort of the couch or even the beach.
Yet the idea has not caught fire as many had thought it would since digital communication began to pervade life a decade and a half ago. While statistics show working from home is on the rise, it doesn't seem to match pace of technological evolution. U.S. employees who worked remotely at least one day each week increased to 9.5 percent in 2010, from 7 percent in 1997, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
No telecommuting
This week, the ranks of remote workers got a little smaller, but in a very big way, when reports surfaced that Bay Area tech giant Yahoo has told its thousands of employees their telecommuting days are over, according to a leaked memo.
"To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side by side," said the memo, whose contents were confirmed to Bloomberg News by an unnamed Yahoo employee. "Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home."
That any company in 2013, let alone one whose business is connecting people through the Internet, would make such a decree set off a debate on the wisdom and usefulness of such seemingly old-school thinking. But at bottom, the real question seems to be: Considering the technological tools available to today's workers - instant messaging, email, Skype, Facetime, Hangouts - why is working from home is still considered such an "alternative" solution?
Joseph Pastore, a professor at Pace University's Lubin School of Business, says it's nearly impossible to supplant the basic unit of communication in an office setting: the efficacy of a simple conversation.
He said working remotely "is not always going to work as effectively as you think. Most of life's experiences are human experiences. There's so much about what we do - to the extent that it's conversational and interactive."
It's what some term the "water-cooler" phenomenon: The truly critical details of a job are the in-between moments where casual conversation spurs projects and initiatives that end up delivering real value for the business.
Another reason the workplace remains the workspace of choice is simple personal preference. Some people just work better around others.
Clearing deadweight?
In the case of Yahoo, many see the long- struggling Internet giant as bloated and needing to tighten its belt in order to compete with a new generation of tech heavyweights. By telling workers to show up or ship out, as the memo indicated, CEO Marissa Mayer, who took over in June of 2012, may be able to clear a little deadweight.
Still, several observers jumped on Yahoo's case.
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, for one, said Mayer's move perplexed him.
"Give people the freedom of where to work & they will excel," he tweeted.
Mayer's former employer, Google, and social networking giant Facebook, likely smelling blood in Silicon Valley's hiring waters, were quick to reiterate their own work-from-home policies.
From a policy point of view, statistics seem to be on their side. The 2012 National Study of Employers, a report backed by family and workers' rights advocacy groups, noted that some 63 percent of companies allow - though not necessarily encourage - at least some employees to work a portion of their time remotely. That's up from 34 percent in 2005.
Getting the job done
But talk with just about anyone at Google, Facebook or at other Silicon Valley workplaces, and they'll admit that while an occasional day at home is fine, being in the office is usually more productive.
Increasing gasoline prices and crowded highways may make commuting more painful, but in the end, most managers will default to the bottom line, Pastore said.
"The mere fact you're saving a little money and time won't supplant the fact you're not getting the job done," Pastore said.
SOURCE Mary C. Kelly
Jobs may get done when employees work from home, but careers are made in the office.
Yahoo is set to implement a new rule which requires all employees to work in the office only, a move that could impact hundreds. Rachel Emma Silverman joins digits. Photo: Getty Images. The outcry surrounding a decision by Yahoo Inc. —led by new Chief Executive Marissa Mayer—to end work-from-home arrangements has shown just how strongly many companies and employees have embraced remote work, but it also underscores tensions between workers' need for flexibility and their need for visibility. Companies tout working from home as a benefit that helps recruit and retain talent over the long term, but workers may be missing out on the personal contacts that get them promoted.
![[image]](/MK-CB187HOMEWODV20130226172722.jpg)
Marissa Mayer via Twitter Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer tweeted a picture with her baby in October
Yahoo employees who work from home will have to start packing up their lunches and reporting to the office for duty. But new research suggests there may be a good reason for them to show up: a future. Quentin Fottrell has details on The News Hub. Photo: AP. Clichés about the water-cooler aside, many managers say having workers in the office makes sense, given greater emphasis on collaboration and group projects. And despite studies showing that home-based workers may be more productive than their cubicle-bound peers, remote workers must also combat the perceptions among managers and colleagues that they're not spending the day goofing off.
At S&T Bank, based in Indiana, Pa., managers are experimenting with work-from-home arrangements for some employees, though it hasn't been easy, said Becky Stapleton, S&T's director of human resources.
Sometimes when people are working remotely, "you wonder if employees are being as productive as they could," said Ms. Stapleton. "Or, are they being more productive? As a manager, you have to be actively engaged in their work."
Some firms use monitoring programs to track what home-based workers are doing online, so that managers can gauge how much time is spent on each task.
At Salesforce.com Inc., a large share of the company's roughly 10,000 workers can sign on from home, said Monika Fahlbusch, a senior vice president.
The software company has developed Chatter, similar to Facebook for the workplace, to coordinate projects. Managers can keep real-time tabs on whether staffers have updated budget reports, answered questions about a new client or whether they've been idle. "It's very obvious when someone is not engaged," Ms. Fahlbusch said.
At technology-consulting firm Acumen Solutions Inc., certain consultants work from home, but only after "they have a proven track record," said Shally Stanley, a managing director in its McLean, Va., office.
At prior employers, Ms. Stanley observed some home workers "lose focus," either missing deadlines because they didn't check in enough or failing to grasp a delay's impact on colleagues.
Face to face contact is particularly important for new employees, or for teams whose members are unfamiliar to one another, said Michael Boyer O'Leary, an assistant management professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He added, though, that remote employees can be just as productive as co-located teams, depending on how well they are managed and the job functions involved.
Brett Caine, a senior vice president at technology company Citrix, said that there are challenges to managing remote employees, especially for inexperienced managers who may not have built trust among their teams. "Nothing in life and work replaces face to face," he said. But he noted that about 86% of the company's 9,000 employees work remotely at some point during the week, working wherever they considered was most suited for the task. Some employees, for example, will telecommute for deep-concentration tasks, but go into the office for collaborative work, such as brainstorms.
![[image]](/MK-CB185HOMEWONS20130226180903.jpg)
Some managers say the office just holds more opportunities for the accidental encounters that can lead to new products or relationships.
"Unplanned interaction is so valuable," said Naveen Jain, CEO of Inome, a Bellevue, Wash.-information technology company with roughly 400 employees, some of whom work from home on occasion. "I don't care what technology does—there is something about being right next to a person."
Having employees in the office can also lead to faster decisions and communication, because workers can more easily reach out to their colleagues, said Dan Yates, CEO of Arlington, Va.-headquartered energy-technology company Opower. Almost all of his firm's 320 employees work out of the company's four global offices, which are equipped with videoconferencing technology allowing workers in different offices to simulate face-to-face contact.
Noting that some of the best insights arise in the hall or cafeteria, Yahoo's human resources chief said in a company memo that "speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo, and that starts with physically being together."
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to discuss internal matters. "This is about what is right for Yahoo, right now," she said.
During the nine years Stephen Piper worked from his home in Providence, R.I., he made efforts to foster connection with his far-flung co-workers, even organizing "virtual beers" with his team on Friday afternoons.
Mr. Piper, 38 years old, a director of sales operations at a major information technology firm, would grab a beer from the fridge, set up a conference call, kick back and wait for his colleagues to join in and talk about work or raise problems, he said.
"We didn't have Christmas parties," Mr. Piper said, "so there were customs we had to invent to be powerful managers in a virtual environment."
The biggest challenge for many home workers is that they labor to combat perceptions that they have cushy roles, or that they're not getting as much done—a reason why remote workers have reported longer hours in some research.
Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, a 290-person note-taking app company based in Redwood City, Calif., said he prefers his employees come into work though staffers can also work from home. Those who do sign in from home, though, are expected to do as much, if not more, than those in the office.
"To an employee, I would say that [if they're working at home] understand you're signing up to work harder," he said.
Studies suggest that those who work from home are happier in their jobs than the average cubicle drone, but it comes at a cost. While productive, home workers are 50% less likely to get a promotion than those who come into the office, according to a study published last week by Stanford University.
The researchers, who spent nine months monitoring a work-from-home program at a 16,000-employee Chinese travel agency, concluded that the lack of face time with bosses caused careers to stall.
"Home workers can become forgotten workers," especially when it comes to bonding with senior management, said Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford and a co-author of the study. Being an engaging presence in meetings and dealing with work conflicts are key skills for getting ahead, he added.
Three years ago, Mr. Piper decided to spend more time at the office, traveling to headquarters at least once a month and coming into a branch office several times a week—partly because he had three noisy children at home, and partly because virtual beers only go so far.
"When the time comes for promotions you need to be on somebody's radar," he said, "and it's important to show yourself across the company so people know who they're talking to."
—Joann S. Lublin, Lauren Weber, Melissa Korn, Pui-Wing Tam and Leslie Kwoh contributed to this article.
After "retiring" from a 40-year career in advertising, Art spent several years as a consultant working with employers involving the aging work force and with seniors addressing the challenges facing them as they prepared for retirement. In early 2003, he founded RetiredBrains.com, a site that has developed into a major destination for boomers, retirees and people planning retirement. RetiredBrains provides information on a wide variety of subjects and includes a free job board connecting employers looking to hire older workers. Art’s book "Invent Your Retirement Resources for the Good Life," published by
Oakhill Press, is a complete reference guide for those planning retirement and for retirees themselves. Art can be reached via LinkedIn, Twitter: @artkoff and Facebook..
Working at home can help make ends meet by adding to Social Security and retirement income or finance the extras that are so important. Some have found working at home to be a good way to create extra income or successfully take the place of a full-time job.
Unfortunately, in the areas of working from home or starting a home-based business, there are many companies that make offers that sound enticing but are not legitimate. According to a 2010 survey by the Investor Protection Trust, one out of every five citizens over the age of 65 has been the victim of a financial scam.
You must carefully investigate any business offer — particularly those that require a substantial investment on your part. Check with your local Better Business Bureau and if possible others that have invested in this businesses prior to investing yourself. Google the company and see what others are saying. Do your research.
There are several ways to earn money working out of your home. For a list of innovative and successful suggestions from readers at RetireBrains, click here.
The following are work from home ideas for earning revenue:
Direct selling
There are literally hundreds of firms for you to choose from should you be interested in representing them. In most cases companies that involve direct selling require you to purchase some product for you to sell but the "starter kit" of training materials is generally not very expensive. Legitimate direct selling companies allow you to "sell back" unsold products that are in good condition if you decide this isn't for you.
The product or service you choose to sell should be something that you yourself would use even if you weren't selling it (something you fully understand and can be enthusiastic about) and you should be making money from your sales to customers — recruiting other sellers should not be the primary basis of your income.
If you feel direct selling is worth exploring, check out the Direct Selling Association where you can see companies marketing products from air filters to wine and services including financial, insurance and Internet.
Selling online
There are many who make a good living selling online. You could start by selecting things that you have around the house and list them on eBay, Craigslist or Amazon.com. Once you decide if this is something you wish to spend more time doing you can purchase things to sell. If you purchase the right products at the right price you should be able to make a good profit.
Don't worry about getting started as each site provides concise instructions on how best to use their particular site to sell or purchase.
Become a tutor
If you graduated from a college or university in the U.S.A. or Canada, or you're a current student at an accredited school, and you have expertise in English, math, science or social studies, you could make money as an online tutor.
You must be able to convey key information to students of all ages - generally fourth grade through college level - in an online environment. That means teaching mathematical formulas and chemical equations through an Internet connection rather than face-to-face instruction.
Visit tutor.com to learn how you can make $10 an hour or more working 5 hours to 30 hours a week out of your home.
To find other online tutoring opportunities, or to learn how to start your own online tutoring business, do a Google search using the keywords "online tutor" where you can research dozens of options based on your availability and subject-area expertise.
Source: Getty Images Ask a telecommuter about their stay-at-home job and they'll tell you why telecommuting positions are good for them and their employer. From better health and a happier home life to higher productivity, there are advantages all around.
It's Telecommuter Appreciation Week, and I'd like to show my appreciation for all of the virtual work-from-your-home people I know.
There are a lot of us out there, and the numbers grow every day as telecommuting positions become more commonplace as more companies see the many benefits to telecommuting work and jobs that are flexible.
I know people who run companies with dozens of employees, all of whom work from a home office. It is very common for new startups to skip the expensive overhead of office space and go virtual, and for companies who want to attract superstar workers to allow them to work remotely part-time or full-time.
I haven't commuted to an office for twelve years, and the pros far outweight the cons for me. It would take a lot for me to give up the advantages of the telecommuter lifestyle.
Working from home has a lot of benefits to employees:
No commute time. I used to commute 45 minutes each way on the bus or by car into a downtown office. That's 90 minutes a day, which adds up to thirty hours a month in commute time. Working in my home office, my commute is a few minutes at most, if I stop to make a cup of coffee.Less pollution and traffic. One way to reduce air pollution is by less driving, and you can't suffer through a traffic jam if you never drive to work.Less expensive. Bus or train fares, or gas, tolls and parking, can add up to thousands of dollars a year.Less germs. People ask my secret for avoiding all of these colds and flus that spread like wildfire. I tell them it's swimming every day (which is a much better use of time than commuting) and not being exposed to coworkers who insist on coming in sick.More family and personal time. Many people with long commutes miss important evening time with their kids, or being able to participate in outside hobbies. Getting that commuting time back can change the quality of your non-work time, and work-at-home jobs often can be more flexible with scheduling, too.Less stress. I don't know about you, but I hate traffic and my past big-city commutes were a battle every day in each direction. Walking barefoot into my home office beats that hands down.Less spent on work wardrobe. Many telecommuters also travel to meet business contacts in person, too, but when working at home, the quality dry-clean-only clothes are replaced with cotton sweats.Pets don't have to stay at home alone. A few months ago, I wouldn't even have thought of this, but since I adopted my first dog last month, I'm constantly aware of the positive affect of my dog next to me as I work. More about this one at Pets Welcome! When Companies Allow Pets at Work, Everybody Wins.And on the flip side, there's a lot in it for companies, too.
Global Workplace Analytics and the Telework Research Network reviewed more than 500 studies about telecommuting found that companies get:
Happier employees. Two out of three of people want prefer to work from home, and more than a third would give up a raise – or even take a salary cut – for the chance to telecommute. Eighty percent of workers consider telecommuting a perk.Better attendance. People who work from home call in sick less, because they're 1) less likely to take a whole day when all they really needed was a couple of hours for an appointment and 2) they're more likely to keep working when they are sick since they're not speading their germs.More production. Yes, work-at-home jobs are actually more productive. In fact, American Express workers who telecommute are reported to produce 43% more than their counterparts who worked in the company office.Less money spent on office space and facilities. Companies can have smaller offices with a virtual workforce, which saves in many ways. Sun Microsystems reported their Open Work program saves $68 million a year in real estate costs.Meetings are more efficient online or on the phone than in person. The whole water cooler phenomenon has its place, but it is a time waster. Virtual meetings held online or through conference calls are generally much more punctual and efficient than in-person meetings.As a recruiter, I'll add one I didn't see in the list: When commute distance isn't an issue, there is a much bigger candidate pool, and companies can look for talent that doesn't need to be in a short driving distance. Virtual workers can be anywhere.
Obviously, not every job makes for telecommuting work, and there are some cons to it as well (such as keeping computers secure and motivating virtual workers) but many adapt quite well to stay-at-home jobs.
If you're interested in being a telecommuter, share this article, and the link to the report, to begin a conversation with your company about how that might work for you.
More about telecommuting and new ways to work:
Marissa Mayer, bounding back to work after a two-week maternity leave, came up with a nifty solution for juggling work and family: The Yahoo chief brought her family to work.
Literally. The 37-year-old CEO, named to the job when she was six months pregnant, used her own money to build a nursery next to her office. Good for her. Baby-in-adjoining-cubicle is not a scalable solution, but Mayer is, for the moment anyway, unique - the first woman to give birth while heading a Fortune 500 company.
But Mayer's self-bestowed flexibility made the news that Yahoo is cracking down on work-from-home arrangements especially disappointing.
"To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side," Yahoo human resources chief Jackie Reses wrote in a memo obtained by Kara Swisher of the allthingsd.com website.
"Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home," the memo said. "We need to be one Yahoo, and that starts with physically being together."
Yahoo graciously granted dispensation, sort of, for wait-for-the-cable guy emergencies, although employees were lectured to "use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration."
How ironic that a technology company, dedicated to enabling connectivity, would enforce such a retrograde, back-to-the-assembly-line edict. It reflects a bricks-and-mortar mindset in an increasingly cyber world. How depressing that this edict comes from a female CEO.
Working from home isn't just a girl thing - nearly as many men as women work from home, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indeed, it isn't just a parent thing. But it is an important tool in the arsenal of parental juggling and parental sanity.
This is not to argue that every employee should be able to work at home, every day. Of course not. Some jobs obviously lend themselves to telecommuting better than others.
Working from home does not mean doing without child care. Nor is it a license for slacking off, as some commentary has suggested was happening at Yahoo.
But the solution is not a blanket ban - it's better management, and better metrics for judging productivity.
Likewise, Yahoo is certainly correct in its intuition that "some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings."
They also come in the shower, while you're walking the dog. And they come from employees who aren't exhausted from battling lengthy Silicon Valley commutes. They come from employees who feel grateful for being trusted with the responsibility of self-direction.
I have a stake in this argument because I am lucky to have a job that lets me work from home most of the time. As I write this column, my teenage daughter is sleeping upstairs - strep, again! If I had to be at the office, I could leave her, but how much better to be able to bring her soup and tea.
Working from home, I have interviewed senators while making the bed, listened to campaign conference calls while emptying the dishwasher (thank goodness for the mute button), talked to White House officials while driving carpool (thank goodness for Bluetooth).
Even when I had a position that required more face-time in the office, the technology-fueled ability to work at times from home made all the difference; I was more productive than I would have been chained to my desk. The flexibility of working at home has allowed me to cling, however tenuously, to the level of adequate mommy.
Yahoos are safe until June, when the new policy is to take effect. My prediction? It won't, in its current, draconian form. Mayer is smart enough to realize this was a real yahoo move.
During the worst housing market since World War II, Home Depot (HD) found religion of sorts, and under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Frank Blake, the company embarked on a multi-faceted plan that has significantly improved the company's operations. Home Depot had ridden decades of double digit sales and earnings growth to expand its store footprint, and leverage into additional businesses that deviated from the company's iconic orange box stores. General Electric (GE) alum and former CEO Robert Nardelli was replaced in January of 2007, and Blake took aggressive actions to divest non-core assets and to streamline the supply chain. The company focused on allocating excess capital to shareholders in productive ways, instead of engaging in an empire-building campaign, which wouldn't leverage Home Depot's durable competitive advantages in North America. These steps have led to substantial increases in free cash flow, while improved margins set the stage for attractive earnings growth, as the housing market continues to improve. Despite these many positive trends and a strong belief in the company's leadership, I believe Home Depot is fairly valued at current prices, and I would need to see a significant sell-off before obtaining the required margin of safety to invest.
The internet has clearly had a transformative impact on most retail operations. Companies such as Blockbuster, Staples (SPLS) and Best Buy (BBY) have seen their businesses severely impacted by the ease of internet transactions. Some of the major disadvantages of internet retail are potentially higher shipping costs on heavier items, and the inability to obtain same-day delivery in most markets. Few retailers, if any, are more insulated from the destructive competitive dynamics of the internet than Home Depot. Much of the supplies that the company sells are quite heavy, and many times trips to the store are to the building supplies store to acquire much-needed materials to finish a project where time is of the utmost importance. Currently, the company is advancing its buy online, ship to store concept, which has the opportunity to enhance its customer experience.
Home Depot and Lowe's (LOW) hold a duopoly in the home improvement market in the United States. Other stores have tried to compete effectively, but if a construction team is trying to finish a project and is in need of supplies, they would be silly not to go to the location where their needs can be completely fulfilled. The housing and home repair markets are certainly cyclical, but are not in danger of becoming obsolete any time in the near future. It would be nearly impossible for a new entrant to take serious market share away from the existing incumbents. Therefore we view this segment of retail as being one of the safest places to earn returns in excess of the cost of capital.
When the housing market crashed, Home Depot already had a mature store base with very little opportunity for store growth. Frank Blake correctly identified this and instead focused on improving technology tools to improve supply chain visibility, which was an area where Home Depot had previously lagged behind Lowe's. Blake drove costs lower, but due to the horrendous macro conditions it was difficult to see the full impact of these investments in the company's financial statements. The company divested its professional supply business and ancillary retail operations in 2007 and 2009, respectively. In 2012, the company determined that it would halt its big box operations in China, opting for more localized concepts. Management is focusing much of its current investment efforts into driving further improvements in its cost structure and supply chain, where it can get more assured investment returns on invested capital.
The fact that Home Depot remained quite profitable despite the worst housing crisis since World War 2 speaks volumes about the quality of the company's business. Return on equity hit trough levels in 2009 at 12.75%, and returns on invested capital that year were 6.16%. Because of Blake's reduced spending on expansion, the company actually increased its free cash flow in 2009 and 2010, despite steep revenue declines mainly caused by divestments and a rough consumer environment. Importantly, Blake returned much of this free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and stock buybacks. The company has reduced the share count from about 2.062 billion diluted shares outstanding at the end of 2006 to 1.491 billion, as of February 3rd 2013. Just about all of this 28% reduction in diluted shares outstanding took place at prices far below Home Depot's recent price of roughly $67.50, and below my estimates of intrinsic value. Even with the huge buyback program, Home Depot has increased its dividend payout consistently over the last 5 years, and the goal of the company is to pay about 50% of earnings as dividends. With the remaining retained earnings, the company invests in the business and buys back its own stock.
I can't overstate how important it is that management downgraded its international aspirations where it had very little durable competitive advantages, if any, in favor of a strategy that focuses on maximizing investor returns through improved profitability and intelligent capital allocation. Many market participants are hugely critical of Edward Lampert at Sears Holding (SHLD), but solid capital allocation is by far and away one of the most important determinants of shareholder returns in retail stocks. Sears has a tough competitive dynamic but if the company would have expanded like other retailers such as Best Buy did, bankruptcy would have been a much more likely scenario. Some of the best performing retail stocks have been companies such as Autozone (AZO) and Autonation (AN), which were also large Lampert investments. Both management teams have done an excellent job at allocating cash to the highest returning opportunity, whether that be expansion, leveraging technology, or buying back their own common stock. Frank Blake seems to be cut from a similar cloth, and with a very strong hand to play at Home Depot, the future looks quite exciting.
On February 26th, Home Depot reported excellent 4th quarter earnings, highlighting improvements in the housing market, an increase in demand caused by Hurricane Sandy, and an extra week of sales. Sales in the quarter were up 13.9% YoY to $18.2 billion, and comparable store sales were up 7%, with U.S. stores leading the way up 7.1%. Home Depot earned $1.0 billion or $.68 per diluted share in the quarter, which was up from $774MM and $.50 per diluted share YoY, respectively. The company estimates that the extra week added approximately $1.2 billion in sales and .07 per share in earnings per diluted share, in the quarter and year, respectively.
For fiscal year 2012, Home Depot grew sales by 6.2% from 2011 to $74.8 billion. Total company comparable store sales for the year increased 4.6%, and comp sales for U.S. stores were up by 4.9% in 2012. Home Depot earned $3.00 per diluted share, which was up 21.5% from $2.47 in 2011. The numbers would have been about $.10 per diluted share better, had it not been for a $145MM, net of tax, charge associated with the closing of some stores in China. Home Depot achieved an operating margin of 10.4% and a 17% return on invested capital for 2012. These met or exceeded the company's 2009 goals, proving that management is doing what they said they would do, which is often not the case, unfortunately.
On the strength of an excellent 2012 and an improving climate heading into 2013, Home Depot raised its quarterly dividend by 34% to $.39 cents per share. Management expressed its interest in paying out about 50% of earnings as a dividend, which I view as a huge positive in terms of capital allocation. In addition, the company's board of directors authorized a $17.0 billion share buyback, which replaced its previous program. Since 2002, the company has bought back approximately 1 billion shares for $37.5 billion. Management is laser-focused on increasing shareholder value through the maximization of sound capital allocation, and excellent operating performance. The company's goal is to attain a return on invested capital of 24% by the end of fiscal 2015.
For 2013, Home Depot expects sales growth of 2%, headlined by comparable store sales growth of roughly 3%. The company only intends to open about 9 new stores and hopes to be able to drive both gross and operating margin improvements, culminating in roughly 65 basis points of operating margin expansion. The company intends to buy back about $4.5 billion worth of stock, and including buybacks expects diluted earnings-per-share-growth of 12% to $3.37. Home Depot expects to generate roughly $7.2 billion in cash flow from operations and has capital spending plans of $1.5 billion, which would peg free cash flow at about $5.7 billion. Home Depot averaged investing well over $3.5 billion per year on property between 2003-2008, so the improved free cash flow dynamics are really a combination of reduced spending and improved profitability. New home inventory levels are exceptionally low and many home-owners have deferred remodeling plans due to the weak economic landscape. These dynamics will likely lead to a solid runway of earnings growth. If the company hits its return on invested capital target, the company could potentially earn between $6-7 billion by 2015. The large stock buyback should increase per share value even further, as long as the company is diligent about only buying back stock when it trades below the intrinsic value.
With all of this positivity it might seem strange to be neutral on the stock, but it really comes down to demanding an adequate margin of safety. At $67.50, Home Depot trades for about 20 times 2013 earnings. Book value severely understates Home Depot's real estate value, which is marked at cost on the balance sheet. With a current market capitalization around $95 billion, Home Depot trades at about 13.5 times my peak earnings estimate of $7 billion. My estimates could be overly conservative if the housing rebound is stronger than I expect, but I'd want to buy the company at $.50-60 cents on the dollar to really be interested, and at current levels I just can't justify such a valuation. If I were long Home Depot, I would look to take some profits off of the table after reaping the benefits of this excellent management team. I'd only look to re-establish a position if the stock traded down to the low $50's.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)
Additional disclosure: I am long Sears Holdings bonds.
