Stay-at-Home Moms Fill Executive Niche: WSJ article

[citymama]

ETA: The moderators have edited down this article to 250 words because of copyright issues. If anyone would like a full-text version, please let me know.

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal - has been the most emailed article on WSJ.com for a few days. I'm posting the full-text since WSJ is a subscriber-only publication.

How Stay-at-Home Moms Are Filling an Executive Niche
By SUE SHELLENBARGER

Click here for full text:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120951025037054311.html?mod=hps_us_mostpop_viewe d

Lots of employers would like to be able to hire cheap, temporary teams of seasoned pros with experience managing $2 billion investment portfolios, running ad campaigns or earning Ph.D.s in neuroscience.

But few know the secret to finding temps of that caliber: Look on playgrounds and at PTA meetings.

The decision among some highly educated women to stay home with children is sparking a countertrend: The rise of the mommy "SWAT team." The acronym, for "smart women with available time," is one mother's label for all-mom teams assembled quickly through networking and staffing firms to handle crash projects. Employers get lots of voltage, cheap, while the women get a skills update and a taste of the professional challenges they miss.

.....

Skilled workers taking temp projects isn't new, of course. What's different about these teams is that they're available on short notice because the women are usually at home; they tend to work cheap because their main motive is to keep their skills fresh; and they're often extraordinarily well-qualified, having left the work force voluntarily when their careers were on the ascent.

.....

"Using the brain cells, making the contacts, feeling productive and useful ... and being in a room with people a lot like me," she says, make such projects worth the effort.

CATERING TO MOMS

Here are a few flexible-staffing firms that find work for at-home mothers:
• FlexibleExecutives.com
• FlexibleResources.com
• FlexperienceConsulting.com
• MomCorps.com
• On-Ramps.com

[ThreeofUs]

Thanks for posting - this is great!

[DrSally]

I read this article when it came out, very interesting, and a great way for moms to stay active in their careers, but be at home with kids most of the time. The company gets a bonus too, with high brainpower at low rates.

[citymama]

My only concern is that these brainy women are getting paid peanuts - a fraction of their previous (and potential) earnings. Even though I know it's a win-win in some ways, I hate to think of moms being exploited. It's like outsourcing to low-wage workers domestically...!

[Wife_and_mommy]

My only concern is that these brainy women are getting paid peanuts - a fraction of their previous (and potential) earnings. Even though I know it's a win-win in some ways, I hate to think of moms being exploited. It's like outsourcing to low-wage workers domestically...!

I hardly think being paid $21/hr is peanuts. It may be peanuts compared to full-time work but it's not full-time work--brainy or not. It's a far cry from exploitation, imo.

[californiagirl]

But part time consulting rates are HIGHER not lower than full-time work. $21 an hour is slightly (very slightly) more than I play my cleaner.

If you hired a standard consultant for that kind of job you'd be paying a MINIMUM of 5 times that much. $21 an hour out of the company's pocket for temp work? That gets you somebody to file and answer phones.

The last time I was consulting (with a baby in tow -- literally in my arms while I worked, no less) my friends and family rate was still over $100 an hour. And some of the women they're describing have full-time wages higher than mine.

[jenmcadams]

But part time consulting rates are HIGHER not lower than full-time work. $21 an hour is slightly (very slightly) more than I play my cleaner.

If you hired a standard consultant for that kind of job you'd be paying a MINIMUM of 5 times that much. $21 an hour out of the company's pocket for temp work? That gets you somebody to file and answer phones.

The last time I was consulting (with a baby in tow -- literally in my arms while I worked, no less) my friends and family rate was still over $100 an hour. And some of the women they're describing have full-time wages higher than mine.

I think the article was interesting and there are lots of SAHM types doing part-time consulting, but their example where the women were getting $21/hour seemed laughable. I have a top-tier MBA and decent work experience so my hourly rate might have been higher than some others, but the least amount I charged when I was doing part-time consulting was $75-90/hour. When I was a consultant for a large international firm (12 years ago, pre-business school) I was billed out at $225/hour without an advanced degree.

I do think there are opportunities for women to do things part-time, but was a little take aback by some of the examples. I also think it's tougher than people think to develop and maintain an appropriate pipeline of work. I haven't done any consulting since my second DC was born b/c I have so much less time now that my older child is in school. I found that if I was willing to work 20 hours a week (or more), I could have been super busy and had more work than I wanted, but wanting to keep those hours to 10-15 is tough. I may try to build up some work again in the Fall, but for now, I've found it's a tough thing to have enough work/projects, but not too much.

[Gena]

$21 an hour out of the company's pocket for temp work? That gets you somebody to file and answer phones.


This depends on where you live and the industry you're in. I've done a lot of temp work (doing a heck of a lot more than filing and answering phones) and I never got anywhere near $21/hour.

[spunkybaby]

I read the original WSJ article last week and was also struck by the $21/hr figure. I work PT and my first thought was that I hope my manager doesn't see that figure and try to decrease my hourly wage since I'm already making less per hour than when I first started contract tech writing/editing 10 years ago! And part-time work should be paid at a higher hourly rate than full-time work because of the lack of benefits, stability, etc.

The article stressed that these women have high-powered degrees and experience and that $21/hr was a bargain for the company. I think it's unfortunate that people think "flexible work hours" means you can pay someone dirt-cheap (for that industry/experience).

[DrSally]

I didn't catch the $21/hr figure. That's really bad for that level of work that they were describing. I would think $75 would be much less than going rate, but still respectable...

[californiagirl]

This depends on where you live and the industry you're in. I've done a lot of temp work (doing a heck of a lot more than filing and answering phones) and I never got anywhere near $21/hour.

It didn't say they were getting $21 an hour -- it said the employer was paying $21 an hour. If you were temping through an agency, they were probably billing more than twice what you were getting.

There are still areas where $21 an hour will buy reasonably experienced people, especially if you're not going through an agency, but there are no areas in the US where $21 is anywhere close to going rate, or anywhere close to HALF going rate, for the kinds of people they're describing.

[wellyes]

Pay may be low, but it's nice to be recruited. To get a job without having to job hunt is pretty sweet.

[KBecks]

I would think that any highly skilled person would be able to negotiate a fair rate. I don't think they are being exploited if they agree to the terms.

[trales]

My husband has been doing temp legal work for awhile to fill in the gaps. And I have really mixed feelings about it. After all the money and education it sucks to be paid so little and given no benefits when the firm is billing out the lawyers at 250/ hr, paying the temp agency about half that the and temps get much, much less.

A lot of firms do it to work on big projects and to avoid paying benefits, they can also let you go between projects.

DH has essentially been working 60+ hours/week for the same two firms for 2 years. They have a hundred or so temps at a time and can save a lot of money this way, getting cheap, well educated, legal work.

He works with a fair number of primarily SAHM who do projects like this once or twice a year to keep up the legal skills and help the family out.

What the article does not talk about is the number of professionals like my DH doing this type of work for that type of pay.

It is hard, he has 3 advanced degrees and 12 years of post high school education. The economy sucks and a lot of firms are hiring temps instead of full salary associates.

Sorry for my rant. The article hit a little to close to home putting a touchy feely spin on a sucky situation.

[Twin Mom]

I work part-time in consulting as a salaried employee and $21/hour with no benefits seems extremely low. For the skill level they are describing, those woman are way underpaid. Personally, it would not be worth it to me to do the same type of work I am doing now for so little money. I have been thinking about exploring some type of contract arrangement since I have a terrible commute and would prefer to work fewer hours but I haven't done any real investigation yet so thank you OP for the websites you listed. I am definitely going to check into it further.

[Globetrotter]

I do contract work in a historically lower paying field (even though I have a masters). $21/hour is peanuts! Even *I* make a LOT more than that as a contractor!