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30 SECOND COMMUTE'S MUST-HAVE TOOLS FOR SUCCESS
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ARTICLESThe New "Open Collar" Workforce
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When I was trying to decide on a name for my website several likely ideas came to mind. I didn’t want something that sounded like it was associated with one of those overly busy work-at-home job listing websites devoid of any really interesting, entertaining, or valuable information for the work at home professional.
I wanted something that sounded a little more friendly and had a nice ring to it. Something short and easy to remember and type (and spell!). I wanted something that sounded techy, because aren’t most of us “WAHP’s” (work at home professionals) all just a little bit techy in some way or another?
Most of all I wanted something that represented a sense of community for the home office and mobile professionals that come to the site. Sadly many of the ideal domain names that I came up with were already taken. So being the ”sunlighting homepreneur” that I am…I decided to turn to my old pal Google to do a little word research to see what new jargon the work from home industry had surely generated by now - you know those new words, or slang terms, that get added to the dictionary each year. Perhaps that would help me come up with a new, catchy domain name. And I found that the work from home and mobile workforce is definitely being recognized by the Websters Dictionary now!
Here are some words, previously unknown to me, that I found on a site called WordSpy, that specializes in new and recently coined words in the English language.
open-collar worker (OH.pun-kaw.lur wur.kur) n. A person who works at home
Earliest Citation:Organized labor is worried about the millions of new “open collar” workers who will be able to do jobs at home that once required an office setting — that may be about 10 percent of our work force by the year 2000. —”The Small Issue, the Big Picture,” The Washington Post, December 31, 1988
homepreneur noun. An entrepreneur who creates and manages a home-based business.
“Gord Hume doesn’t need to hear the numbers. Instead, he can lean back in his chair, gaze out the window at his Byron neighborhood, and point to two other homepreneurs within viewing distance.” —Janine Foster, “No Place Like Home,” London Business Monthly Magazine, July, 1991
flexecutive (flecks.EK.yoo.tiv) n. An executive or professional whose hours and place of work are flexible.
Earliest Citation: The pundits call them “flexecutives” because, with the widespread use of faxes and computers in the ’80s, they are flexible enough to live where they choose and remain hooked into the economic mainstream. —Corrie M. Anders, “Aging baby boomers tempt real estate investors,” The San Francisco Examiner, October 23, 1994
clockless worker n. An employee who is willing to work at any time, day or night.
job spill n. Work or work-related tasks that carry over into personal time.sunlighting (SUN.lye.ting) pp. Working on other projects while taking time away from one’s day job.According to Fraser and the dozens of workers she spent four years interviewing, this so-called “job spill” — this seamless merging of home and work that was supposed to make our lives so much easier — is the bane of today’s mid-level corporate worker. It’s everywhere.
—Emily J. Minor, “Why bother?,” Palm Beach Post, March 31, 2001Note: This phrase was named “word of the year” for 2002 by the staff at Webster’s New World College Dictionary.
Example Citation: Allowing an employee to reconfigure her day can lead to free agency. First, she takes work home and leaves early on certain afternoons. Then she arranges to telecommute three days per week. Then, while she’s telecommuting, she begins moonlighting — or “sunlighting.” if she’s working on side gigs during the day.—Daniel Pink, Free Agent Nation, 2001
Article Source: Home Office Hub
About the Author: Shiela Jones is the owner of Home Office Hub, an interesting, informative, and entertaining place for those who work from home, or other remote locations, to gather, exchange ideas, stay informed, pickup useful tips, and to have fun. There’s something here for everyone from work at home moms and dads to small business owners to those who are just dreaming about working from home.
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