Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
(OP)
Hello;
I am a Designer and do not have a P.E. I have approximately 10 years experience. I moved to the USA last year and have been working with a Firm. Before I moved to the USA, I operated my own small design business from home. I still operate that business and do that work ocasionally at night.
All in all the Firm I work with now are great to work with. I pretty much just do my activities with very little supervision. The P.E. in charge is usually to busy to chat with anyway (ha, ha).
As time has gone on, I have missed working from home. I am a self motivated person and working from home just suited me very well. When I worked from home, if meetings were scheduled, I would simply attend them. If site visits were ever required, I would just go.
I am considering approaching my Employer and exploring the option of working from home with the flexibility to come in to the office, or site visits or meetings at the drop of a hat's notice.
I would be interested in knowing what people would think of this? Is it done here in the USA? How would an Employer respond to such a proposal?
Thanks,
I am a Designer and do not have a P.E. I have approximately 10 years experience. I moved to the USA last year and have been working with a Firm. Before I moved to the USA, I operated my own small design business from home. I still operate that business and do that work ocasionally at night.
All in all the Firm I work with now are great to work with. I pretty much just do my activities with very little supervision. The P.E. in charge is usually to busy to chat with anyway (ha, ha).
As time has gone on, I have missed working from home. I am a self motivated person and working from home just suited me very well. When I worked from home, if meetings were scheduled, I would simply attend them. If site visits were ever required, I would just go.
I am considering approaching my Employer and exploring the option of working from home with the flexibility to come in to the office, or site visits or meetings at the drop of a hat's notice.
I would be interested in knowing what people would think of this? Is it done here in the USA? How would an Employer respond to such a proposal?
Thanks,





RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Just talk you your boss about the matter. As long as your performance stays the same you won't have any problems.
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
When there are lots of jobs and not a lot of people, companies make allowances.
When there are fewer jobs & more people, companies tend to want it their way.
My current employer is an example. When I started here a lot of people worked from home some of the time or had very flexible hours etc. The number of people with this has gradually decreased as times have got tougher. Then again, the overal workforce has decreased to, I'm not sure if the % are comparable.
That said, there are people here who do it. On programmer lives in Hawaii (we're in CA). At least one electrical engineer works here about 1/2 time and from home 6 hours north of here the rest.
Part of the problem can be the IT infrastructure required etc. If they have this in place possibly not a big deal. If they'd have to buy some stand alone licences, some kind of portal/online access etc. then it starts to get more hassle.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Things you need to have at home if you can:
Hi speed internet
printer
Able to have vpn access to work servers
Have a work cell phone and not use your home phone for business, syke is a good option here.
Have a room set aside specifically for work, since IRS in USA is picky about allowing this deduction. More easy if you have a complete room set aside for this reason.
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
I honestly think the social aspect is important to an extent. Sort of becomes like the issue of building a fence around your front yard. What is the intent? Fence you in, or others out.
At home there's the wife, the TV, the kids, and at work it's only the other kids.
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Fine, but that means I need to start working before you leave for work in the morning, or keep working after you get home.
She wasn't a big fan of that logic.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Working from home is not a problem for me. I have a wife and young kids too. Personally, I feel way more productive working from home. Working in a cubicle, hearing people's personal phone calls, people talking to themselves and even them clicking at the computers starts to drive me nuts after a while.
I think I need to get away from it...
Working from home just suits we very well and I am at my happiest.
How to bring this up with management is the thing that I am concerned about doing...
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
I guess the thing that makes it so hard for me is that I have come from working in my own home office where it was quiet and I could close the door. Going from that to a cube farm is proving to be really HARD for me.
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
I do have all the software needed at home, if my company were expected to buy another license that idea would have been quickly put to death. I too prefer to work from home, avoiding the jail-like mental imagery cubical farms produce.
RE: Are Firms open to people working from Home in the USA?
Thanks,