Software Developer, Media Nut, and Proud Father of Two

Telecommuting jobs rock, not to be confused with an employer rocking. I love working from home, but I am becoming unhappy with my employer. I greatly appreciate all they have done for me in the past, but I can't help but get the feeling of being, at times, undervalued and witnessing plans being taken that make me say enough is enough (sorry, no details). Because of this I am weighing my job options. Living in the fourth largest city in the US, surely I should be able to find a job that would be fitting to my needs. I admit that I am a little picky about where I work and whom I work for, especially since I've been working from home for almost three of the last four years. I have become spoiled with not having to drive to work, drive from work, have an extra vehicle, and spend the extra money on gas and upkeep of said vehicle. In that regard, it saves us quite a bit of money, but for a lot of corporations this is not considered as a viable work option for their employees (from my limited experience).

With the exponential growth of the Internet and doing business over the Internet, you have to wonder, "Why don't companies push for more telecommuting?" There are plenty of benefits to having employees work from home, but being the objective guy that I am, I am aware that there are several key drawbacks. AssignByWeb made working from home part of its business model when it began. Initially anyone hired was as a contractor, but thanks to the company's growth, we are now full time employees and even have benefits to boot. I was going to go through a detailed list of pros and cons to telecommuting from a business perspective, but I'm not a business oriented person, so I will avoid sounding like an ignorant fool. For more detailed information on Telecommuting, see this Wikipedia stub.

One of the biggest pitfalls to working in Houston is driving into Houston. Driving from my home in Spring to downtown Houston takes approximately 35-40 minutes when traffic is actually moving. When traffic isn't moving, or rather, is moving very slowly (typical rush hour event), that time can go up to an hour and a half, the equivalent of driving from my home town of Marrero, LA to Baton Rouge, LA with no traffic (and not speeding). Also consider that that is a one way trip, so when everyone gets off, the process is repeated by everyone is now leaving downtown. In one instance, I went to an interview with a staffing agency last December and it took me 90 minutes to pull into my driveway. Because of this, I am quite reluctant to take anything that takes me to downtown Houston. Unfortunately, these areas are also where contract jobs upwards of 80K are coming from.

I have lost track of the number of calls and offers of jobs in the areas that I am desperate to avoid. The thought of driving two hours a day, outside of working an eight or nine hour shift, is quite daunting. I know, I know, waa waa waa, but whatever. Even if a job was offering me 100K, I cannot say that I would accept it because:

1. I love working in the comfort of my own home.
2. I love being close to my family.

No amount of money can make me happy about being away from my family for 10-12 hours a day, five times a week. I care too much about them to leave my wife to fend for herself. People have been doing this for a very long time, yeah, I know, but I'm not them. I guess my only options are to stick it out with AssignByWeb or start my own business; both options really aren't very appealing to me right now, but maybe I'll have a change of heart.