As the world turns, companies are looking at home-based models of employment to save money and to improve the work/life balance of employees. One such company is Global Sky, an outsourcing provider that runs an international call centre out of Manila in the Phillipines. Founder and CEO James Stinson said that the old paradigm of 9 to 5, or eight hours a day, goes back to the days when industrialists needed people in the factories to produce raw material, and that in this day and age we don't need to work within that paradigm anymore.

The new model, according to him, is for employees to work when they want to and for as long as they want to. Instead of pretending that you are productive two hours each day, you should work those two hours that you are productive, maximize your income during that time, and take the rest of the day off.

With the advent of technology, employees can work from home, and home can be anywhere in the world. He actually encourages his employees to move to low-cost areas where the lifestyle is good so that they can minimize expenses and maximize income.

Two people who I am sure would share his sentiments are authors Cali and Jody of "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke--the Simple Change That Can Make Your Job Terrific," who advocate coming in to work and leaving whenever you want, taking time off whenever you want, as long as at the end of the day the work gets done. This way, if your child falls ill suddenly, for example, and you have to take him to the pediatrician, you don't have to call in to the boss and explain yourself as if you are a kid in school. You just take your child to the doctor and come in to work later in the day. The authors call it the ROWE - Results-Only Work Environment. Best Buy currently adopts this method.

A Canadian social trends study published back in 2007 showed that workers in the country spent 45 minutes less with their family during workdays in 2005 than they did in the '80s, as they were spending more time working.

Do you believe in telecommuting? adopting the home-based model of work? the ROWE method? Share your thoughts.