Alternative Work

Work Habits of the New Millennium

Over 10.4 million people in the U.S. are IT workers – directly accounting for approximately 7 percent of the nation's workforce. This sizeable group has many commonalities with the rest of the modern workforce. For many, this means the ability to secure a position that offers balance between the time spent at work and time spent on personal endeavors.

Consider this: Several years ago a Work Trends survey conducted by Rutgers University showed that 97% of American workers say the ability to balance work and family is the single most important job factor. The study finds this desired time balance ranks far above job security, quality of working environment and relationships on the job.

How do hiring managers and HR departments respond to these statistics? This question, and many others like it, is leading many companies to implement work arrangements like flextime, job sharing and telecommuting – options that just 15 years ago might not have so readily been considered.

This comprehensive section on Alternative Work Options explains in-depth the benefits and considerations of each choice and how many companies are finding value in incorporating these options into their workplace.

Telecommuting

When the nature of the work and organizational climate allows, telecommuting can be advantageous in many ways, such as: Enhanced recruitment efforts; Uninterrupted time for creative, repetitive, or detailed work; Uninterrupted time for creative, repetitive, or detailed work; Reduced office space costs; Reduced absenteeism and lateness; Easing urban complications, and much more

Job Sharing

One alternative work arrangement that provides many benefits to both the employee and employer is job sharing. Although this option is not as widely used as the other alternative work options, it has been proven to work in situations where there is a shared trust between employees and managers.

Flextime

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics more than 91 percent of working men and 67 percent of working women have children under 18. For these professionals the balancing act that must be maintained to attend to both the personal and professional aspects of life during the typical workweek can be stressful.