Re: Telecommuting availability (was US Professional issues)

[Yvonne DeGraw <yvonne -at- SILCOM -dot- COM>]

Melissa Sweet <Melissa -at- A-R-M -dot- COM> wrote:
>There seems to be a real resistance to telecommuting, as well.

I read recently that the average American spends 75 minutes a day in a car!
Not just an environmental and productivity problem, probably a mental health
problem.

However, I think it's understandable that employers want to have employees
on-site or at least nearby while they are "getting to know you". Some people
can work remotely, others can't. It's a personality thing. I've seen
employers bend over backward to accommodate employees who want to work
remotely once the employees have established their worth and ability to work
unsupervised.

The person I'm reporting to for one contract recently moved from
Santa Barbara to Oakland, CA (~350 miles). She's still supervising
her part of the project remotely and working for the company. Another Santa
Barbara client has a developer who moved to Montana years ago and is still
working for the company remotely. A friend works from Santa Barbara for a
company in Virginia; that company closed its Santa Barbara office a few
years back.

As a contractor, I haven't really pursued contracts with companies outside
my local area. I'd expect them to be somewhat resistant to contracting with
someone they haven't met. To some extent, I'd like to meet them personally
before agreeing to a contract. I prefer to meet SMEs personally, too. It
gives me a chance to better figure out how to get information from them when
working remotely. I use in-person visits, phone, and e-mail depending on
what works best. I can tell what will work best better in person.

However, I haven't seen resistance to my working from home when I'm within
15-20 miles. I've gotten several long-distance (overseas) contracts because
"they knew me" through a contract they had with one of my clients. I've had
only one contract where I'd never met anyone related to the company
face-to-face.

On the visa issue, my clients are trying desperately to find programmers to
fill their positions. They are willing to pay well and would hire more
senior people if they could find them. Most pay a finders fee to employees
and would pay at least some relocation. All the companies that are doing
well would invent positions for qualified people if they could find them.
(Hey, if you know programmers in Silicon Valley--housing is actually cheaper
in Santa Barbara than in parts of SV... OK, the salaries are not quite as
outrageous.)

The companies I've seen doing layoffs aren't rehiring lower-paid workers.
They are laying off because they don't have a business model that allows
them to make money. (The Internet has encouraged that type of startup.) Even
in a good economy, some companies don't do well. And, some companies are
more dependent on Asia than others.
Yvonne DeGraw, Technical Services     o Technical Writing
yvonne -at- silcom -dot- com                     o Online Help
http://www.silcom.com/~yvonne         o Web Documentation
Tel: 805/683-5784                     o Database Publishing
Santa Barbara STC: http://stc.org/region8/snb


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