Even Corporate Perks Join the Dot-Com Revolution

Will home computers and Internet access soon join pension plans and dental care as standard employee benefits offered by corporate America?

In unprecedented efforts to usher their employees into the Information Age, Delta Air Lines and Ford Motor Co. both announced plans this week to provide home computers and Internet access to all of their workers--about 442,000 people--for as little as $5 per month.

The programs reflect the growing sense among corporate leaders that employees not only appreciate such high-tech perks but become more valuable workers when they are proficient with computers.

Analysts said other companies are likely to follow suit. If the programs do trigger a broader trend, it could provide a significant boost in the number of households that have computers and Internet access. Currently, about half of the nation’s households have PCs, and roughly 40% are online.

Many companies have provided senior executives with home computers for years. But these programs go far beyond that, pushing technology into the homes of truck drivers and assembly line workers, baggage handlers and flight attendants. Ford employs more than 370,000 people worldwide and Delta has 72,000 workers.

Although analysts said the subsidies could cost the companies hundreds of millions of dollars, that is a fraction of the amount they already spend on employee benefits. In return, the companies are hoping for payoffs ranging from streamlined communication with employees to boosted worker morale at a time of troubling union issues.

But some experts cautioned that the programs are not without subtle costs to workers, who may find the new machines and access eroding traditional boundaries between the workplace and the home. Both Ford and Delta plan to use the computers to communicate with workers at home, from sending corporate announcements to administering online training.

“This is a double-edged sword,” said Arlie Hochschild, a UC Berkeley sociologist who has studied how companies use technology to extend employees’ workdays. “It’s seen as the company giving a gift to the worker, but it’s also in the company’s interest to extend the long arm of the workplace.”

Under the terms of Ford’s program, company employees will be offered a computer, monitor, printer and unlimited Internet access for $5 per month. The machines are made by Hewlett-Packard and have 500 megahertz Intel Celeron microprocessors--fast enough to handle the latest communication and Internet software but not top of the line.

Delta employees will get comparable access and equipment, minus the printer, for about $12 per month. Delta also plans to offer faster machines or laptop computers to employees willing to pay slightly more. Workers are required to enroll in the program for 36 months.

The programs deliver deep discounts to employees. Comparably equipped computers typically cost about $1,000, and most Internet users pay roughly $20 a month for access, although a number of companies have recently begun offering free Internet accounts to those willing to accept advertising on their screens.

The programs are more generous than even technology companies provide. Intel, for instance, issues laptops to office workers but not employees in its plants. Apple Computer Inc. offers discounts to employees but not free machines or cheap Internet access.

The programs were greeted with enthusiasm by employees at both companies. In fact, at Delta, union officials currently waging campaigns to represent the company’s workers saw the program as a potential boon to their organizing efforts.

“We already communicate with thousands of the flight attendants by e-mail,” said Jeff Zack, a spokesman for the Assn. of Flight Attendants. “To be able to do it with all of them would be tremendous.”

Zack said many of Delta’s 20,000 flight attendants now need to go to their work bases to check on their schedules and bid for upcoming work assignments. “It would be a good thing if they could do it from home.”

A Delta reservations agent in Atlanta, who gave his name only as Mike, said that among the company’s employees “there are single mothers barely getting by, so I’m sure they’re not at Best Buy buying computers for their children. For them, it would definitely be a benefit.”

Both companies said they are encouraging employees to allow their families to use the machines. Some workers said they were concerned that the companies might snoop on their Internet activities, but Ford and Delta said they will not monitor participants’ Web surfing or e-mail. In fact, Internet service will be provided by separate companies: UUNet for Ford employees and AT&T; for Delta workers.

At both companies, the offers were partly seen as a way to boost loyalty and morale. But Ron Iori, a Ford spokesman, said the company also regards the program as a way to put employees in better touch with the tastes of customers. Employees, he said, are encouraged to do such things as visit chat rooms where consumers discuss Ford and other auto makers’ models.

“We’re not giving employees access . . . so they can sit at home and do memos,” Iori said. “We think that by going on the Internet, [employees] can get a feel of what consumers are thinking, acting and feeling.”

Nevertheless, Ford and Delta also plan to take advantage of their new reach into employees’ homes in more pedestrian ways. Ford has developed a company-branded “portal site,” or multipurpose home page, on which employees will see Ford news and announcements whenever they log on.

Delta is going one step further, allowing employees to access the company’s internal network from home, meaning they will be able to check work schedules, take online training courses, fill out benefit forms and perform other functions--all of which might otherwise take place during the workday.

Both Ford and Delta have contracted with privately held PeoplePC Inc., a San Francisco-based company that bundles hardware and Internet access provided by other companies, to administer the programs.

Nick Grouf, chief executive of PeoplePC, said the deals represent a “sea change in the way businesses interact with their employees. These companies want to make sure none of their employees fall into the digital divide.”

Grouf declined to say whether similar deals with other companies are in the works, but analysts said that is inevitable.

“This is a new phase in the realm of employee benefits,” said Meredith Medland, a technology analyst at Jupiter Communications. “We are definitely going to see more deals like this in the future.”