Rob Rowe will not be in today.. His sitter quit on him.

Why does not this fine, modern, progressive company provide day care? 

  I myself am fortunate enough not to have children at this time. So I 
personally have no need for daycare (and neither do my children!)  However, 
it seems to me that it makes good business sence to provide at least some 
assistance with the care of the children of Atari personnel.

Reason (1):
	The company has a stake in the welfare of its employees.  It is pretty
obvious that if an employee is streching his/herself and his/her paycheck 
in order to provide for the safe and reliable care for children that that
persons performance will be effected.


Reason (2):
	Companies that provide day care resources are more attractive to future
and current employees.  These companies can pick and choose from a much larger
set of "quality " employees.  


Reason (3):
	By creating a common resource of this type the company brings together
its employees.  This bonding solidifies the company.


Reason (4):
	This type of benifit communicates the companies commitment to its 
employees.  It shows the employee that the company is here to stay and that
while it exists it will care for its people.  This is the type of company
that wins.


						jfs.	

I agree with John; day care would be an important plus for Atari and its
employees.  Given the number of single mothers in the work force, daycare
would be especially important in attracting and retaining qualified women
employees.  

Max Behensky

A question:

	Which cross-section of the population is larger--single parents,
or plural parents who both work?  I don't have any idea.  But there would
be more benefit than Max suggests.

sas

      I agree with John Salwitz, Max Behensky and Steve Suttles.  Day care 
would be a very real asset to Atari.  My husband and I haven't any children
at this time but who knows what the future will bring, and judging from the 
number of weddings and engagements we've had recently it looks like many 
of our employees will need this kind of service.  I particularly agree with 
John's point about how a Day Care facility at Atari would create bonds among
our employees.  It would probably do this better than a dozen parties or 
picnics. (Not that we don't need these too.)  There might be other benefits 
too, we'd have a built in group of kids for Focus Tests, if they could reach 
the controls!
                       Kris Moser

	Once upon a time in a castle named 1501 McCarthy, I started
seriously lobbying for something several of us had discussed back in
1272 (the FIRST time). The idea was that Atari, with some 7000
employees and a soon-to-be-completed "Corporate Campus" bringing
us all together could really benefit from company sponsored daycare.
I don't think anybody at that time felt it should be free, just
subsidized in the same way as the cafeteria, perhaps just by providing
space. Kris's comment about the focus groups was also mentioned, and
even more relevant then, as Atari was heavily into educational uses
of home computers.
	Anyway, there was a lot of support for the idea at my level
and below, and nearly none above me, so I eventually got discouraged
and gave up. It seems wierd to me now to hear it all come up again
just as I am about to become a potential customer. Anyway, if anybody's
counting votes (and if they matter) mine is yes.
				Mike