Would You Take A Pay Cut To Work From Home?

[Deleted]

I guess the subject says it. I would probably take a 10 or 20% pay cut to work from home. You save on gas, car wear and tear, and all other expenses.

Not only that, like I talked about in another thread, the work day would probably shrink significantly. There are a large amount of people that would be able to stop pretending to work when they aren't.

[Waffle]

Absolutely!

[doxieluvr]

Count me in. I could get so much done at home. I still have over four hours of pretending to be busy today.

[mcmommy]

Heck yes.

[pepper112765]

In a heartbeat.

[The J]

I'd be willing to take up to a 10% cut.

[shelby]

I work from home and would not trade it for more money so yes I would. My day is so much shorter with no commute I can be home when the older boys are off school so no daycare. I barely drive my gas budget is less than $20 a week. I can make dinners and get things done while working. No need to eat frozen or fast food, more time with kids. The freedom of it is great I can wear sweats and a robe to work if I want so I get more sleep. Really why would I give this up?

[souldoubt]

Would I - yes. Do I prefer to - no. I'm 28, work less than 10 miles from my job and still trying to work my way up the corporate ladder so to speak. Working at home isn't going to allow me to do that and I also like the interaction that is requierd of my job. In 10+ years after I have a longer work history and a family then perhaps my answer changes but right now I don't want to do anything that makes me seem expendable or less attractive as an employee.

[doxieluvr]

Feb 9, 2011 12:41:32 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

Would I - yes. Do I prefer to - no. I'm 28, work less than 10 miles from my job and still trying to work my way up the corporate ladder so to speak. Working at home isn't going to allow me to do that and I also like the interaction that is requierd of my job. In 10+ years after I have a longer work history and a family then perhaps my answer changes but right now I don't want to do anything that makes me seem expendable or less attractive as an employee.

Suck up !

[Deleted]

It's interesting cause you wonder why more employers don't try it out. At least on a small scale.

[naturallyfrugal]

I would totally take a pay cut (assuming I had a job) to work from home. I'm unemployed right now, but would love a "work at home" job.....

[whoisjohngalt]

Probably not. I WOULD however, take a pay cut to work close to home.

Lena

[souldoubt]

Feb 9, 2011 12:48:29 GMT -5 doxieluvr said:

Feb 9, 2011 12:41:32 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

Would I - yes. Do I prefer to - no. I'm 28, work less than 10 miles from my job and still trying to work my way up the corporate ladder so to speak. Working at home isn't going to allow me to do that and I also like the interaction that is requierd of my job. In 10+ years after I have a longer work history and a family then perhaps my answer changes but right now I don't want to do anything that makes me seem expendable or less attractive as an employee.

Suck up !

If that helps me get the promotion I'm working for by year end so be it.

I'd be hesitant to show an employer that someone can do my job while out of the office. I honestly don't worry about my job being outsourced given what I do but I wouldn't even want to plant that seed so to speak. I'd much rather work in the office which is definitely par for the course for the company/industry/profession that I'm in.

[sil]

My last job was 100% working from home, now I go in to the office 3 days a week.

It would be really hard to go back to commuting every day.

If I lose this job and my options were a larger paycheck for 5 days a week in the office vs. a <20% smaller paycheck to work from home a few days a week, I'd take the job that lets me work from home.

[ktunes]

i have the flexibility to work either...meeting days i commute, others i work out of the house...i wouldn't want to work 100% from home either...we have a lot of characters at the office and i would miss some of the interaction...

[pepper112765]

It's interesting cause you wonder why more employers don't try it out. At least on a small scale.

Because if they can't SEE you, then they feel you aren't working. However I am "allowed" to do most of my OT from home (mostly working on trial stuff ... lawyers are in trial during the day and come back to work at night to prepare for the next day). Baffling. I get more work done working at home than I do at work. I would settle for at least two days working from home. It would make me such a more pleasant person ... my commute is maddening sometimes

[NancysSummerSip]

In less than a heartbeat. I have a second job that I am working on turning into my first job. Freelancing still requires a lot of sacrifice and discipline, but it would be on my terms.

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2011 15:04:30 GMT -5 pepper112765 said:

It's interesting cause you wonder why more employers don't try it out. At least on a small scale.

Because if they can't SEE you, then they feel you aren't working. However I am "allowed" to do most of my OT from home (mostly working on trial stuff ... lawyers are in trial during the day and come back to work at night to prepare for the next day). Baffling. I get more work done working at home than I do at work. I would settle for at least two days working from home. It would make me such a more pleasant person ... my commute is maddening sometimes

Yeah, I get why they wouldn't do it. I think when you're here, they know you're at least somewhat engaged with your job. IF you're at home, they have no clue about the work conditions. People could take days off left and right.

But they should only care as long as you get your work done right? I honestly think most employers think that if you can get your work done in 20 hours, then they should give you twice as much work to fill the 40 hours. Which is why there is so much slacking off in the office.

[Deleted]

Just as a general comment on this, I own a small buisiness that is entirely web-based. I pay people $15/hour to work from home. I pay them by the hour and they just report how long they work.

I've found, I probably get WAY more out of workers. I just have them submit a basic time sheet outlining what they accomplished during those time periods.

Unlike working in an office....they just assume you're working while you are in the office.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Heck, I took a 100% pay cut to stay home!

[pepper112765]

[/quote]Yeah, I get why they wouldn't do it. I think when you're here, they know you're at least somewhat engaged with your job. IF you're at home, they have no clue about the work conditions. People could take days off left and right.

But they should only care as long as you get your work done right? I honestly think most employers think that if you can get your work done in 20 hours, then they should give you twice as much work to fill the 40 hours. Which is why there is so much slacking off in the office.
[/quote]

With respect to litigation, it is either feast or famine. Our Administrator, when she would see that we were "not engaged," would drive her nuts. She would say let's find a project to do and I'm like no, we've been working crazy hours on XYZ case, let us rest on our laurels a bit. If the attorneys aren't complaining, then I am not understanding why it bothered her so. She came from a completely different law firm culture. She had to get reacclimated to how things are done here. Appearing engaged and actually being engaged are two completely different beasts. I can appear to be engaged doing absolutely nothing.

[ca]

It took a 40% pay increase to get me to come back to work in an office. And I'm not sure it was worth it...

[Deleted]

I would take a 1% pay cut for each day I could work from home up to 3 days. My ideal situation would be 2 days at home and 3 in the office. I enjoy working with people face to face and would not want to only work from home.

[Deleted]

No, no, no. It isn't that my job can't be done from home . . . there is online teaching even from home.

but I guess that I am at the point where I want to earn every dollar I can that affects my pension and (possible) social security benefits. I expect to retire at 66 in nine years. Every dollar I earn can go somewhere . . . toward my pension, toward other retirement savings, toward making my house retirement-ready . . . SOMEWHERE.

I think when you start looking closely at the end of the tunnel, you want to maximize. That, at least, is how I feel. I won't be working Saturdays forever (Sat School and standardized tests). Let's do it now to make that time sweeter.

[TheOtherMe]

Without a question.

[dcmetrocrab]

I prefer being in office to working remotely, I enjoy the social interaction. With kids, it'd be a different story. I would take a paycut in that situation. For now, I'd take one for a closer commute or the opportunity to work 2 days at home out of the week. I could if I wanted to now, but working remotely carries a stigma where I am now.

[cronewitch]

Not me, my work could mostly be done from home but I need to talk to coworkers and in person is the only good way to do that.

I worked from home for 6 weeks once and it was miserable. Much of the time the workers were on the phone so if you needed to talk to them you would get a busy signal. At work they would see you and know to put the client on hold or you would go away and they would come find you to see what you wanted. When you are home they aren't going to call they will ask someone else. Nobody knows what hours you are trying to work so you got calls from 6 AM to 5 PM so there was no real lunch break or quitting time. I couldn't train my trainee as well since she couldn't see my screen and I didn't have a fax machine so she would have to read me my faxes. My boss said I was only about 60% effective from home but I was working longer hours.

Companies don't allow working for home because they want people to cross train, answer questions, help each other and be there when they want to give you work. Few people are truly working all alone with some tasks and nothing else even when 90% is alone they still need to see coworkers sometimes.

If I could work at home I would need a desk that wasn't covered in personal stuff, fax machine, copier, access to company software and someone to bring me work and take it back. If I am for example writing checks for the company I need to get invoices from my boss, my snail mail and the purchasing clerk and process a batch of checks, staple copies to the invoices and have the boss sign them and then mail them and file the copies. The purchasing clerk might get them to me late and I have to hurry to get them to the CEO to sign then get them in envelopes and postage on then to the mail box. in the office I just walk down the hall to get the purchasing clerk to hurry and to leave them for the CEO to sign. I don't have a postage machine at home and I would need to go to the mail box. At work my boss will take them to the post office. There are few jobs where people don't pass papers or train or be trained or work together at all.

Also many people think working at home means they can play with the kids and make dinner when they are at work and friends and family might call you when they wouldn't when you are going to work so you have more interruptions.

[dcmetrocrab]

Also, I don't have the luxury of needing to pretend work right now. I remember those days, don't miss them.

[Deleted]

I cannot do my job from home

But on snow days my wife works from home and she loves it. So if she could I would say yes... save on gas and most importantly : expensive wardrobe.

[jkapp]

Hell yes! Unfortunately my boss would then have access to me (via email) 24 hrs a day. And the man does not sleep!