After layoffs, closing that generation gap.

• Position: Carolina Power & Light Co. - Cover Story

Ask Tim Edelen the worst thing about working at Carolina Power & Light Co.: "Parking," the financial analyst spouts without hesitation. "That's the only thing I can knock."

What about layoffs? In the last 10 years, CP&L has trimmed down to prepare for deregulation. Employment shrank from 9,300 in the late 1980s to about 7,000. Between '93 and '97, the company averaged 300 to 400 layoffs a year.

But that tapered to 147 in 1998, and now the company is hiring as it diversifies into industries such as natural gas. So with job security on the upswing, parking is the biggest complaint some employees can muster. The dilemma: CP&L has limited spaces at its downtown Raleigh headquarters, where 1,500 work. The closest commercial lots charge $3 to $6 a day, and some are five or six blocks from CP&L's 21-story, white, curving tower. The company's solution: offer employees a parking subsidy - $20 to $40 a month, depending on their salary - and a shuttle to take them to their cars after dark.

It's one example of how, after an unnerving decade of job cuts, the company is trying to smooth things over with employees. "We've reshaped benefits," says Brenda Castonguay, human-resources vice president. "We have flexible work hours, and we've started offering benefits to part-time employees."

Employees can now take every other Friday off, as long as they put in 80 hours in two weeks. "People said they were feeling stress and didn't have enough time with their families," Castonguay says. It has been "a great recruiting tool," she adds, and absenteeism has declined. "Most people schedule their doctor and dentist appointments on that day."

CP&L also beefed up incentives. It has traditionally matched 50% of employees' 401(k) contributions - up to 6% of salary - in company stock. Since 1985 it has given up to another 50% when it meets goals in areas such as profits and customer satisfaction. Starting this year, employees will get annual bonuses, from to 3% to 7% of their salaries, if five or more corporate goals are met.

New moms can have up to four months off, and parents get paid time off for school events and family obligations. Barbara Barbour, a project support analyst, was able to cut her hours when her then-6-year-old daughter began having trouble in school. She is back full time. Employees can make their own schedules, as long as they put in their time and cover 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

With a past full of layoffs, helping people get better at their jobs is one...