employee can work a compressed work week,
and then on Friday at 2: 30 the company closes.
Instead of working 9–5, they work 8–5: 30.
They make up the additional hours during the
week, but on Fridays at 12: 30, the majority of
the population leaves, from the CEO all the
way down to the entry-level employee.
Everyone adheres to it.
We have an onsite childcare facility that’s
under construction and will accommodate about
180 children in New Jersey. And we have,
roughly, 5,000 to 6,000 employees. We have
partnerships and relationships with local childcare facilities and we offer subsidies, discounted
rates. We also have an onsite fitness center,
dry cleaners. We make it easy for employees, but on the flipside of that, you spend
a lot of time at work, and the amenities
are at your disposal.
We also have on site a state-of-the-art
corporate health center. So you can have
physicals, pregnancy screenings, glaucoma screenings, physical therapy, blood
work done—it’s right there at your disposal. Absenteeism has been reduced as a
result, health issues have been reduced,
you can have all of those things right
there. It’s open at 7 in the morning up to
maybe 6 at night. All paid through the
corporation, no cost to the associate.
4 percent of the population will be there. By
2008, more than 20 percent of the population
will be teleworking, for an organization that
has about 30,000 employees. Clearly, we are
doing it because it makes sense for the employees. But I think it makes more sense for Aetna
as well, if you think about real-estate costs.
IS THERE A WORK/LIFE
RACIAL DIVIDE?
Malveaux: We have two kinds of work
forces in the United States: the good jobs,
those are the jobs that have benefits and vaca-
Arroyo: We have a flex path or career
path. Many of us, particularly in the
professional-services firms, have come
from the up-or-out mentality—you
become an accountant, a senior accountant, then a manager of accountants, then
you become the director of accountants,
then you become the auditor, tax partner
in charge of that. At Aetna, we appreciate
what you bring and recognize the abilities
that you have. You may start as an
accountant and you may end up as a manager somewhere else and, ultimately,
become a salesperson in the process. Flex
path is very competitive for us because it
recognizes talent from the raw perspective.
Finally, I’ll talk about what we call tele-work, which is nothing more than
telecommuting, nothing new about this,
but it started as nice to have, maybe 2, 3,
