Special Report: Family Ties

Diana Bowler and Alisa Michaels Metzner, vice presidents at BankAmerica in San Francisco, had a common dilemma. Both had baby girls and did not want to work full time. Yet neither wanted to sacrifice a promising career at the bank. With the approval of their bosses, they came up with a solution: sharing one management job and salary. Bowler, 32, and Michaels Metzner, 34, were a good match because both worked in strategic planning and analysis. Michaels Metzner now comes in seven hours a day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Bowler , works a similar schedule on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The overlap day allows them to coordinate their work.

The rewards are professional and personal. Says Bowler: "It's the best of both worlds." For BankAmerica too, which pays the two part-timers the equivalent of a single 35-hour weekly salary but gets much more work than that from them.