Marie Howerton works for a business information and market analysis company with offices in London and New York. In between phone calls and meetings, she can put a load of laundry to wash or pick up her children from school.
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In the age of smart phones and laptop computers, Howerton’s double shift of work and parenting may become a thing of the past. But it means that she’s always on the clock.
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Just this morning, I dropped my kids off at 7:50 a.m., then went and got a coffee at PJ’s and five minutes later, I was on a conference call in the parking lot, Howerton said. With technology, there’s no getting away from (work) now.
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Howerton is among the emerging telecommuter work force of 34 million Americans, according to estimates by Forrester Research Inc.
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Working remotely means Howerton doesn’t have to uproot from her hometown. For her employer, it means they can pay her a salary based on Louisiana’s cost of living rather than New York’s, and they don’t have to provide her premium office space in Manhattan.
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Louisiana Technology Council President Mark Lewis said all of his employees are able to remotely log in to the company’s system.
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I used to come in on Saturdays, Lewis said. Now instead of coming in from my home in Metairie, I can log on and it’s as if I’m there sitting at my desk, Lewis said, adding, I do that quite often, probably more than I should.
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Although the technology has the potential to make employees more efficient, Lewis said there is also the possibility that less-committed workers will slip through the cracks.
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It puts more responsibility on the employee to make sure the work gets done because they don’t have somebody looking over their shoulder, he said.
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Ron Zornes, president of the New Orleans chapter of the Human Resource…