Work from home jobs used to be risky, low-paying opportunities. But now, more and more big corporations are hiring workers for high-paying jobs that you can do at home in your bathrobe and slippers.
Balancing work, new baby
Lelia Wendel was a preschool teacher until her little boy Austin arrived. She soon realized she couldn't bear to be away from him all day. Now, though, she no longer has to leave her home.
"I work anywhere from one to three hours a day doing my work, and I'm intentional about that, because I am a stay-at-home mom and want to be focused on him," she said.
Wendel has joined the millions of Americans working from home, as a coach and sales rep for the "21 Day Fix" weight loss program. She says she's earning almost $1,000 a month while Austin plays or naps.
"I never imagined I would be able to make the income I do working from home," she said. "There are so many amazing opportunities."
Earn up to $100,000 at home
Andy Powers is a dad of older kids who works full time at home, earning almost six figures.
"I like to tell my friends I have the shortest commute in town," Powers said, "about 15 feet every morning."
He gave up the morning traffic slog when his software company let him move his sales job from a cubicle to his dining room table.
"I really like the quiet and solitude, and ability to concentrate with the lack of distractions of an office," he said.
High-speed Internet makes it possible
Thanks to technology advances from smart phones, Skype and high-speed Internet, more and more companies are saying, "Why do we need people to come here to the office, when they could do it all from home?"
Angie Grilliot is with United Healthcare, an insurance company that just made Forbes Magazine's Top 10 List of the best work from home employers for 2016.
"We're able to use things like instant messaging, and WebX technology, and conference calls where you can see people if you need to," he said.
Grilliot says UHC has moved 25 percent of its workforce to home-based workers because there is less overhead and it turns out they do a better job at home.
"They love it," she said. "We do see higher engagement scores from our employees who work from home, typically if you compare that with the office-based workers."
And they continue to hire, with home-based customer service positions ranging from $25,000 to $75,000 a year, according to Salary.com.
"Right now we have over a thousand positions posted that have telecommuting opportunities," Grilliot said.
Now hiring
Forbes Top 10 list includes:
Most offer customer service and back office support jobs for telecommuters.
Other work-from-home companies
Other companies, while not on the latest list, that also offer work-from-home opportunities include:
Some are Multi Level Marketing jobs. They are legitimate companies, but require you to get friends to join the company and work alongside or "below" you. You may have to throw parties in your home.
These include:
To learn about even more companies, go to WAHM, Work at Home Mom.com.
Wendel says despite the pay cut it was worth it, knowing that she will be able to see her baby's first steps.
"If he is having a rough day, I can snuggle him as he has his naps and give him that time. It's been a blessing!"
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