More Americans
Telecommuting
No longer
is telecommuting something done mainly by people doing
data entry or other lower paying work. At AT&T more
than half of the US based managers telecommute at least
six days every month, and a study by market research firm
FIND/SVP says that the average telecommuter has an
average household income of $51,000. There are now more
than 11.1 million Americans telecommuting, a 39% increase
since 1995. (USA Today 17 Apr 98)
Who Suffers
Most?
Question:
If employees feel
stressed both at home and at work, which of those two
aspects of their lives suffers most?
Answer: Most stress is expressed at
home. According to a 1993 study, The Changing
Workforce, job-to-home spillover is three times as
great as home-to-job spillover. Looks like it's easier to
kick the dog than to yell at the boss! (Families and
Work Institute)
US
Leads on Y2K Readiness
While
industry observers decry the lack of initiative on the
part of US companies to prepare computerized systems for
the transition to the next millennium, the rest of the
world is in much worse shape. For instance, only 8% of
German companies have a formal program to deal with the
problem, as opposed to 80% of large US firms. And one in
five French companies hasn't begun to overhaul its
information systems, according to a 1997 Ernst &
Young study. Meanwhile, the former Eastern Bloc countries
are suffering a dearth of programmers because many have
been lured to high-wage nations such as the US, and some
Asian nations may be laboring under a false sense of
security because they believe their systems, which are
programmed to recognize traditional cultural calendars,
are immune. "Their understanding of the problem is,
'It's not such a big deal, we'll cope with it at the
end.' Now they've got no options." (USA Today
13 Apr 98)
Worried
about Y2K? Now There's D10K!
Experts
predict financial software may go haywire if the Dow
Jones Industrial Average tops 10,000. Many software
programs are designed to handle only four-digit Dows,
says one software designer, who says that concern over
the D10K problem soon "will spawn the usual parade
of opportunists" to fix the bug. (Wall Street
Journal 26 Mar 98)
Electricity
Deregulation Arrived in California March 31
Except for
those few who generate their own electricity, most
Californians have just entered the brave new world of
competition in the electric industry. As of March 31,
customers of investor-owned electric utilities have a
choice in purchasing electricity. A 10 percent mandated
rate reduction should have already shown up on the
electric bills of these customers.
Previously,
all components of electric service were typically
provided by a monopoly electric utility -- including
generation, transmission and distribution, meter reading
and maintenance of electric lines and equipment.
Restructuring involves separating these functions so that
no single company controls all three. Two new entities
will now be involved to ensure fair and open access: the
Independent System Operator (ISO) and the Power Exchange
(PX). As of March 31, customers of these investor-owned
companies will be able to choose to stay with that
utility or buy from a non-utility service provider
(Direct Access).
Municipal
utilities, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power, have a few more months before they lose
monopoly control in their areas.
For more
information, access the California
Public Utilities Commission Web Site.
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