Husson-related program to add 30 jobs

BANGOR – Putnam Investments this summer will add 30 employees to its work-at-home program based at Husson College.

The added staff will be in an area the Boston-based investment firm did not expect when it announced in May 2000 that it would implement a work-at-home program in Maine.

Putnam chief executive officer Lawrence Lasser, after addressing graduates at Husson College’s commencement ceremonies on Saturday, said although the company has experienced layoffs in some areas of operation, it will expand its “fund-pricing” department with the Maine hires.

Lasser credits a tight labor market in Boston for Putnam’s decision. It realized employees could be found in Maine after personnel directors reviewed the 1,700 resumes it received last summer from people within the state who wanted to work for the company.

“Many of them were much more highly qualified,” he said, for positions other than those jobs initially available in the work-at-home program.

In May 2000, Lasser said the company would start a work-at-home program in Maine, where employees were to be trained at Husson College, but then their homes would be equipped with a computer and they would work from there.

Initially, Putnam announced it would hire 200 employees by the end of the year for the Husson-based work-at-home project. Currently the program is at capacity with 80 employees, Lasser said.

Now, according to Putnam’s Web site, between Husson College and a similar program at Thomas College in Waterville, the company expects to have 200 employees.

The work-at-home employees manage mutual funds and 401(k) accounts, but do not sell them or dispense any financial advice. They set up accounts, transfer money between funds, and answer shareholders’ questions about their records. The company also has management and systems operations positions in Bangor.

The 30 new employees either haven’t been in the work force for a while or they have a job but not in a field they would like, Lasser said. This gives them the chance to go back into a field for which they have received their education and previous work experience, he said.

“It’s still job creation, but it’s not exactly what we imagined,” Lasser said.

Since the slowdown in the economy started more than six months ago, Putnam has experienced a decrease in assets derived from managing certain stock funds. Because of that, the company has laid off almost 260 people in areas where business traffic has slumped, Lasser said.

“[It’s] not a lot, but for a company like ours it’s still really painful,” he said.

During the same time, Putnam has hired 30 people who have master’s in business administration degrees for management positions because “we need to keep refreshing and improving that part of the business,” Lasser said.

Lasser said he intends to grow Putnam’s work-at-home program, with branches in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. What surprises him, he said, is that the turnover rate for his employees is lower than that for the service center industry as a whole.

Again, he said, it is because of the economy and a decline in hiring by some companies. People aren’t leaving a position because they may have received a better one somewhere else.

“It comes down to the last six months,” Lasser said. “It’s not that easy to raise your hand and get a job.”