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Subject:Re: telecommuting as viewed by employer From:Matt Ion <mion -at- NEXTLEVEL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 26 Sep 1995 22:40:21 PDT
On Mon, 25 Sep 1995 10:45:10 -0400 LaVonna wrote:
>In the recent telecommuting thread, someone said that we should
>be hearing from more employers. I forwarded that message to my
>vp, David Parnell, and his reply is below.
LaVonna, feel free to pass this on to Mr. Parnell if you see fit...
>----------------forwarded message from D. Parnell------------------
[...]
>If you will allow me to editorialize, I maintain that technical writing
>firms must be flexible if they are to be profitable.
In fact, this holds true for most businesses, especially in "high-tech"
fields, IMHO. There are exceptions, of course (I don't think "flexibility"
would go too far in the military), but I don't expect many people on this list
are involved in those areas.
>Profit margins are
>shrinking, and standards of quality are on the rise. Thus producing an
>effective product in the shortest time possible while incurring the
>least amount of overhead is paramount for technical communication firms
>that intend to remain profitable.
There are more practical aspects to having a number of telecommuting employees
as well. Fewer on-site staff means a company could get away with a smaller
office space (less floor space = lower rent), with the need for fewer phones,
lower electric bills, etc. Building codes may specify one pair (male/female)
of washrooms for every X number of persons employed in that office - having
two or three of them work at home may mean the difference between needing an
extra set of towel bars or not.
Thanks for your input, David.
Matt
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