A tax manager who left her firm in Hawaii and moved to South Carolina was the subject of a very interesting article in the July 2007 Boomer Bulletin from Boomer Consulting Inc. What was so interesting was that not much changed for the Hawaiian firm, as she continues to work for it remotely from South Carolina.
Think about it: As more firms go paperless, this transition from onsite to remote employee can be fairly easy. This option will work well for employees who are making a family move to another part of the country, and for retiring employees.
According to consultant Gary Boomer, the primary obstacle can be the firm’s culture. “What I see in many firms is they’re still struggling with the culture, but blaming it on the technology.”
As the article points out, there are some special challenges, but they aren’t difficult to overcome. With staffing being such a problem, this seems to be a very viable solution for some firms. It also is a natural progression of firms going paperless and utilizing sophisticated document management system.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of firms started contacting former and retired members of the firms and see if they want to be remote employees. Think about all the former staff of firms that left for private industry. Might they not turn into valuable freelancers for firms that they left?
This is just one example why firms are seeing the value in their alumni, and keeping in contact often providing a newsletter and free CPE.
