Working from home becoming booming business

THE WOODLANDS (KTRK) -- Working from home, or telecommuting, is on the rise in Texas.

According to FlexJobs Founder and CEO Sara Sutton-Fell, 75 percent of people who work from home full time make more than $65,000 annually.

"The growth in working from home in Houston has been 100 percent from 2012 to 2013," Sutton-Fell said.

Brittney Rivers is the mother of 8-year-old twin boys. She found her current telecommuting job through FlexJobs.

"I feel like now that I have a job working from home and I'm more present working in my kids life," Rivers said, "That I have a really well-rounded balance to life."

Before she started working from her home in The Woodlands, Rivers drove an hour and a half to and from her job near Katy every day. Her new commute consists of a quick trip up the stairs.

"I have one son with special needs, so I didn't get to be a part of his therapies as well," Rivers said, "So I felt like I was missing out on a lot of my kids' important years."

Now, Rivers helps business administrators across the country use payroll software.

"We've seen jobs that you wouldn't expect, very surprising jobs," Sutton-Fell said, "From remote neurosurgeons all the way down to data entry and virtual admin work."

She said the perception is that mothers make up the majority of telecommuters, but the numbers do not support that.

"When you look at national statistics, the most common profile of a work-from-home employee is a man in his upper '40s," Sutton-Fell said, "Making around $50,000 dollars a year."

FlexJobs is one of several placement agencies that helps users land telecommuting jobs, but not every company is legitimate.

Monica Russo with the Houston branch of the Better Business Bureau said scammers target job seekers wanting to work from home.

"A lot of people would obviously like to work from home, so you've got a number of job seekers out there looking for these jobs," Russo said, "And scammers know that. They tend to prey upon opportunity."

Russo said job seekers should be wary of advance payment schemes; for example, a company may ask users to pay a large application fee up front. She advises people to make sure the company they're considering working for is well

established and has a physical location.

For the Rivers family, the work-from-home job is working out.

"I feel like I can meet the needs of both my employer and my family," Rivers said.

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