The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Companies encourage more workers to telecommute,
Many companies encourage workers to telecommute.
Several big metro Atlanta companies are encouraging employees to telecommute in the wake of the I-85 fire and bridge collapse, or encouraging workers to use MARTA.
Georgia Power sent a companywide email to employees at its downtown headquarters “encouraging them to work remotely” Friday because of the I-85 incident, spokesman Craig Bell said.
“Beyond tomorrow we’re going to have to wait and see,” Bell said. “Georgia Power will fall in line with whatever is best for the city.”
Coca-Cola, whose headquarters is on the north end of downtown, told employees operations would be normal Friday but that they should use their best judgment and contact managers about working from home or other alternatives.
“We anticipate that transportation may be compromised for some time,” CocaCola said in the note, adding that MARTA may be the best option for some while a chunk of I-85 is closed.
Equifax said its Midtown headquarters was open Friday, but “we are advising employees to work remotely... to avoid traffic congestion.” The company plans to have more internal discussions in coming days “as more information is known in terms of expected time for repairs,” spokeswoman Ines Gutzmer said.
Home Depot managers at its Smyrna headquarters have the flexibility to make decisions “for what works best,” according to spokesman Stephen Holmes.
“That may include some people teleworking,” Holmes said. “But first we need to see what the impact will be.”
Georgia-Pacific said many employees already have flex time and working remotely as an option, “and we suspect many will take advantage of that tomorrow and in the near term.” The company said it advised employees to consider alternatives like public transportation.
State Farm has a major new regional office building in Dunwoody, near I-285 and Ga. 400 and adjacent to a MARTA rail station. That allows for “multiple alternate routes for our associates to get to work,” spokesman Justin Tomczak said. The I-85 incident “will in no way disrupt our ability to serve our customers,” he added.
Turner broadcasting sent information to its employees listing different options including working from home.
One lesson of the bridge collapse is that companies need contingency plans for unusual circumstances, said Michael Dziak, chief operating officer for e-work.com, which does online training on virtual workplaces.
“During the Olympic Games, community leaders did a great job of frightening people out of their cars...and it worked,” Dziak said in an e-mail. “The trouble is, after the Games were over, most organizations went back to commuting as usual.”