Homebound mom needs work.

February 28, 2006 10:11 AM

A few months back NPR had a story about the budget airline Jet Blue using booking agents who work from home. Does anyone know of other companies with employees doing computer work from home? I have a friend in New Jersey who's a single mom with no transportation who's also limited in her job options because of the high cost of child care and limited marketable skills. I'd like to know what home bound job opportunities exist for someone in this predicament. Any other suggestions for job options would be appreciated.
posted by TheManticore to Work & Money (13 answers total)

This has been asked here a few times. Did you search through the archives? ;-)

Alpine Access is one of the companies that was mentioned.
posted by drstein at 10:18 AM on February 28, 2006

I asked a very similar question a while back. Might be some useful info in there for you.
posted by Otis at 10:43 AM on February 28, 2006

And just to follow-up to that thread. We looked at the eBay Trading Assistant Program as a way to make some extra money, but instead I ended up taking a part-time job doing on-line tutoring.
posted by Otis at 10:58 AM on February 28, 2006

My former employer hired a stay-at-home mom to find and organize its client's press clippings. This requires her to get up very early in the morning, read the local dailies and occasionally some trade mags, cuts the articles out, and then scan and pdf them.
posted by lunalaguna at 11:35 AM on February 28, 2006

Look for call center work - there's tons of it. Most of the larger (and smarter) telecoms manufacturers have developed IP-based call center applications specifically to reduce the number of bodies in a call center - which are the greatest source of overhead. Many of my clients and clients of co-workers are moving to this strategy because it's easier to pay at-home calltakers a little less, and the ancillary savings (insurance, lower turnover) make this a near no-brainer for call centers worldwide.
posted by TeamBilly at 1:05 PM on February 28, 2006

Do a Google search for "homesourcing". That's the buzzword for this practice.
posted by bkdelong at 1:12 PM on February 28, 2006

moneyjane over at monkeyfilter reported that she made fiarly good bank as a phone sex operator. Also on AskMe.
posted by Mitheral at 2:46 PM on February 28, 2006

Medical transcription, but it usually requires certification for familiarity with medical terms.
posted by FYKshun at 3:51 PM on February 28, 2006

http://www.workathomeagent.com/
posted by IronLizard at 8:28 PM on February 28, 2006

Your friend might want to look into LiveOps (http://www.liveops.com/become_agent.html"). They provide teleservices for many companies under exactly this model. Anyone with a telephone and an internet-connected computer can work as an "agent" and handle calls. While I have not worked with them, I can say that they are a real company and are in fact "the nation’s largest call center outsourcer." It's worth a look and an application, and you can always move on to better offers if you find them later.
posted by zachlipton at 9:56 PM on February 28, 2006

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal regarding this topic: (http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/wsj/access/976068351.html?dids=976068351:976068351&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+26%2C+2006&author=Sue+Shellenbarger&type=8_90&desc=Home+%26+Family%3A+Work+%26+Family+Mailbox)
posted by DeeJayK at 1:35 PM on March 1, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks for the useful answers. DeeJayK, would you have a free copy of the Wall Street Journal article?
posted by TheManticore at 8:42 AM on March 2, 2006

Here are a couple of similar stories from the same WSJ reporter that don't require a subscription:

Call Centers Tap People For Work at Home

How to Find Work As A Call-Center Agent
posted by Otis at 12:42 PM on March 2, 2006