As a vice president for investor relations at Wackenhut Corp., Margaret Pearson had a nice office and a six-figure salary.
But after leaving the corporate world and becoming an independent insurance agent this year, Pearson was able to do something she'd never done before -- chaperone her son's class on a field trip.
"I looked around at the other mothers and said, 'Wow, this is really cool,' " Pearson said. "It was a different kind of networking."
A national survey conducted last month by Fort Lauderdale-based Spherion Corp. and Harris Interactive shows that more and more workers are following Pearson into the world of self-employment or independent contracting. The study of 3,200 employees found that more than half are ready to leave their jobs for new opportunities, despite the troubled economy.
"Never have we seen as high a number of people who want to change jobs in an environment where that's not available," said Robert Morgan, president of Spherion's employment solutions division.
Pilar Pico, 39, had a fulfilling job as a regional vice president for InPhyNet Medical Management of Fort Lauderdale, but she also wanted more time with her children. After her second child was born seven years ago, the Jupiter woman left the workforce. When she decided to come back, she wanted it to be on her terms.
Today, she works as an independent contractor for Humana Military Healthcare Services, a subsidiary of Louisville, Ky.-based Humana Inc., recruiting doctors and nurses for military medical facilities.
"I make more money now than I made before," Pico said. "And I have more flexibility and work the same hours, but they're around my schedule and my family's schedule, not a company's."
Spherion calls people like Pearson and Pico emergent workers, the flip side of the traditional worker. Emergent workers don't expect to stay with one company for their entire careers. They believe in advancement based on performance and not length of service and define loyalty to a company not by tenure but by how much they contribute.
When Spherion conducted its first workforce survey six years ago, 20 percent of the workforce were identified as emergent workers, 34 percent were traditional and 6 percent were migrating from traditional to emergent. This year's survey shows emergent workers jumped to 31 percent of the workforce, with traditional workers dropping to 21 percent and 48 percent migrating toward emergent.
Still, even as more workers are poised to leave traditional corporate jobs, the independence and flexibility of being an independent contractor or a business owner can have its drawbacks.
"If you're out for a week or two weeks or just want take a day off, you can't do that," Pearson said. "There's nobody there when you're gone so you're constantly on the job."
Pearson, 45, made her transition from traditional to emergent last year, when she felt she needed a life change. She quit her job, got an insurance license and started CoverAll Benefits Inc. with her sister-in-law and a friend. She built an office in her Tequesta home and now works about 30 hours a week.
For those who choose to stay in corporate life, companies have been forced to provide incentives, including services such as ATMs, dry cleaners and bank offices on site.
At Office Depot headquarters in Delray Beach, Connie Goldman recently was named the company's first work-life program manager.
In the past few months, she has instituted programs such as on-site parenting classes and Pilates classes. Just last month, Office Depot's corporate office employees received a new perk -- grocery shopping at work. Employees order their Publix groceries from the office, and the items are delivered to the employee's car at the end of the day.
"The ultimate goal is to help our employees manage work and life," Goldman said. "We really have so little time in our personal life.
"If Office Depot can help out with programs and share information employees would have to research on weekends or their lunch hour, we can help achieve that balance."
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