Credit Suisse began more actively promoting flexible arrangements last year within its finance group, expanding from a focus on working mothers to all employees, Gadsden-Williams says, and over 95 percent of requests are granted.

In May, Credit Suisse started a new effort designed by Gadsden-Williams to train senior female employees, and that she says provides the kind of experience Generation X wants.

Twenty-nine women are participating in an 18-month program that gives them a chance to work in teams with senior executives on special projects, one of which is to assess strategies for attracting and retaining talent among Generation Y. Credit Suisse was one of five sponsors of the Center for Work-Life Policy study, along with American Express Co., Boehringer Ingelheim USA, Cisco Systems Inc. and Google Inc.

At Cisco, workers may take leave of up to 12 months and keep their benefits and jobs, which employees most often use to have children and take care of elderly parents, according to Annmarie Neal, Cisco's Denver-based chief talent officer.

In 2007, the San Jose, California-based maker of networking equipment began teaming up people in different departments for 16 weeks at a time to develop new strategic products or initiatives. Participants have priority consideration for leadership roles within the company, Neal says.

"With the baby boomers either retiring or just darn tired, there's a high reliance on Gen-X and Gen-Y to bring energy and innovation into the organization, and just by virtue of their relative maturity we draw more on Gen-X," she says.

At PepsiCo Inc., "our talent strategy incorporates hiring from all generational cohorts, but our focus on Generation X is laser sharp," says Paul Marchand, vice president of global talent acquisition at the Purchase, New York-based company. "The next generation of leaders are going to be Gen-Xers, so we're always looking for ways to attract those who will one day rise to the top layer of our organization."

One new PepsiCo program helps develop the best prospects for senior management, with six-month assignments that combine business school training with immersion in operations in China, India and Brazil. PepsiCo last year started a career modeling program where employees and managers set goals for assignments three to 10 years out, so people see clear paths to advancement.

Spaulding, who has no children, says she sometimes finds herself saddled with extra work because of an assumption that "work-life balance" only applies to those with kids.

"There are days when I've said the corporate environment feels like prison," says Spaulding, who asked that her employer not be named because she didn't get permission to be interviewed. "The biggest thing you can offer me, more than salary, more than anything else, is flexibility."

 

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