Business & Tech

Working from Home Trumps More Money, Patch Readers Say

While more money would be nice, many Patch readers say they'd prefer to work from home.

We offered them more money. We even said they could have a promotion. But if given the opportunity to change just one thing about their jobs, most Patch readers said they would choose working from home over other job perks. 

“My dream job would be to work from home full time,” wrote Kelly Arciniaco on the Toms River Patch Facebook page. “If I could work from home on Fridays in June/July or the days before holidays that would be amazing. I would even give up a raise for that!” 

We posed a 'Working Wednesday' question this week on Facebook and found that although giant corporations like Yahoo are pulling remote workers back to the office and women are being encouraged to “lean in” to their careers, our readers would rather have flexibility at work to balance jobs and family. 

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This echoes a front-page story in the New York Times this week that highlighted a 40-something mother of two who strikes that balance by working from home one day a week. According to the article, only 2 percent of employers allow all or most of their employees to work from home and a third of employers allow some of their employees to work from home on a regular basis. 

“Extra money would be nice, but I'd gladly work from home,” wrote Hank Siarczynski on Ocean City Patch Facebook page, citing the commute and perils of public transit – like the crowds and train cars without air conditioning – as reasons he’d like to stay home.

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Other readers said that teleworking would encourage autonomy with “no boss to annoy me all day long,” according to Susan Wyman Caggiano on Middletown Patch’s Facebook page.

“FLEXIBILITY!” wrote Howell Patch reader  Nancy Padalino Robertelli. “The hardest part to do without when you have kids, and work outside of the home!”

Little Silver-Oceanport Patch reader Susan Voss Vliet, who seems to have found the Holy Grail of jobs, shared, “Working from home is a win/win/win. I save on commute time, commute gas, less cars on the road (traffic & emissions), and employers save on the cost of office space.” 

What else would Patch readers like to squeeze out of their jobs? 

“That’s easy,” wrote Joanna Seidler on East Brunswick Patch’s Facebook page, “more money!”

"Money, money, money, money," concurred Amanda Bloodgood on the Freehold Patch Facebook page.

Patch readers also dreamt of more vacation time, guaranteed health benefits and job security. 

But public school teacher Carrie Michele said on the Ocean City Patch Facebook page  that you can keep your extra money and flex time. What does she want?

"Respect!" she wrote.

 


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