Working Patterns

Employment

Introduction

They can be both adjustable to a certain individual's preferences and can be accumulated into effortlessly as they vary in all areas of which an employee is concerned about such as:

1) Part time working2) Job sharing3) Flexible working hours4) Compressed hours5) Working from home (teleworking)6) Remote working

Changes in Working Patterns ICT developments have increased the amount

of flexible working that organisations can offer their workers

Part time working – working a limited number of hours/working less than the normal working hours of a full time employee

Flexible working hours – workers choose the time of day they want to work (but work the same number of hours every week)

Job sharing – two (or more) workers doing the job of one worker (working full time)

Compressed hours – working for same number of hours as a normal working week but over fewer days

Part-time working

Employers are able to hire staff especially for certain occasions when their businesses are on demand more often than usual.

However, a part time worker has a higher chance at succeeding at their lives outside of work, as they will have more free time to invest into their education or familial responsibilities.

Job sharing Enables a company to gain the insight

and experience of two separate workers whilst paying a single employees' salary rather than two.

Job sharing Pros and ConsAdvantages DisadvantagesVariation in the skills provided by the employees for a considerably low cost.

Conflicts may arise between the workers because of differing opinions/approaches to the work assigned to them.

Solves the issue of keeping the staff members who are no longer capable of attending to the demands of a full time job.

Less indulgent and enthralling.

Sharing of the responsibilities and theadvancement of the problem solving dueto the ranging of techniques.

More time is required to be dedicated to the organizing of the work shared as means of easier comprehension,

Organization is crucial when it comes to setting up the work/ shifts schedules.

Part Time Working/ Job Sharing Helps to retain and attract staff When fully trained staff are retained no need to train

new workers Stores open in the evening so part time staff can be

used for unsociable hours Workers can be fresher and more creative Can use a number of employees at busier times/fewer

at quieter times Part-time workers are less likely to receive in-work

training and earn less than full-time workers Workers that are ‘sharing’ a job must be extremely

organised so they can communicate and work together to achieve maximum benefits

Flexible working hours This is also referred to as flexitime, and is the

most commonly sought type of flexible working hours.

Flexitime enables the employees to personalize their very own working schedules, as long as it complies with the obligations that they have been assigned and detailed on by their employers, this could include things such as: availability in busier times of the year, or times when other employees tend to not be available due to religious/beliefs-related reasons.

Flexible working hours Although it has its many advantages such as

longer opening hours and more profit made, it can be very time-consuming and tiring when it comes to organizing the work/shift schedule, and sometimes, it may not live up to its time and workers are ultimately forced to work at hours when they aren't very happy about working at.

Flexible working hours Due to the flexibility of the working hours in this type

of working pattern, the productivity and maintenance of the works' code of conduct are very likely to reach a point when they drop to an all time low, as in times when they are left to complete their shifts independently, they are able to slack off and not complete it to the best of their ability.

Flexible working hours As for transportation, then it allows the

employees to leave their homes at later times sometimes, hence, avoiding traffic, and getting a better night's sleep, which in turn increases the achievement of a better working atmosphere.

Compressed Hours Its name basically speaks for itself ( employees are

required to work exact same amount of hours, however, over a shorter period of time) - this can vary from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, and is more commonly adopted by companies that require considerably intensive labour over certain times of the year - this as well as all the other types of working patterns engage the workers' attention and aids the completion of tasks that require longer thinking times.

Compressed hours Employers face less issues concerning the punctuality and

attendance, as the work schedules are more straight-forward and the progress is more manageable.

As well as this, less employees may be needed to be hired, as the concentration of which an individual exerts on the task given to them is more likely to be completed in a shorter length of time.

On the other hand, the pressure of which they experience in the few days of which they work, may be too overwhelming for them to be able to enjoy their extended weekends/holidays

Flexible Working Hours/ Compressed Hours Shops can be open for longer periods Allowing for individual workers’ needs

improves absenteeism/punctuality Appeals to employees so helps recruitment

and retention of staff Employers can match employees’ working

hours with busy and not so busy times Danger of lower productivity, as some times

workers may work unsupervised during early or late times

Teleworking This is when an individual is given the privilege of working from

home rather than neglect their familial responsibilities or attending to their own health problems/issues - such as in cases when the employee suffers from a disability.

More effort is put into supervising the employees' progress and their time management as well as maintaining communication with the employee in order to enhance the image they set out of providing their employees withe the essential necessities of which they are to cater as to be assured that the tasks they set their employees are completed to the best of the employees' ability.

Overall, although this has benefits such as the saving of resources and lowering the costs of renting offices, those two factors may prove to be substantial elements in the achievement of the greatest productivity achievable.

Remote workingTeleworking is a major aspect of remote working, But there’s another type. This is when people work at a distance from the main office, for example, Doctor on call and engineer working on a site.

Employees can use any of these technologies to carry out their work or communicate:

PDAs Mobile telephones Laptops with wireless networking capability Doctors can use laptops with wireless network

capability connected to a high security . They are able to access patients records, X-rays eg.

Online services has had two effects on employment. Staff have lost their jobs because the use of ICT has replaced the need of some workers for example, factory workers and bank clerks.

The other effects has been an increase in the need for more workers in technical aspects of work.General Unemployment

Aspects of ICT has affected unemployment by the introduction if robots into factories, replacements of computers to calculate the payrolls and issuing of invoices for payments etc.

Repetitiveness and Accuracy Robots are used because certain tasks must be performed in the same way and with the same degree of accuracy every time. Many jobs such as car assembly have little need for feedback and so do not require human judgment and reactions, for which computers and robots are difficult to program.

Similarly, there are aspects of ecommerce and banking which must be performed the same way and with the same degree of accuracy every time.

New Employment Opportunities As new ICT systems are introduced and updated,

systems analysts are in great demand. Systems analysts analyse existing systems and recommend the design and implementation of new systems. Many new systems require the creation of a website for the organisation concerned, which involves the services of website designers and authors. Computer technicians are required to install and service the computer hardware. All these people are needed by online service providers to create and maintain systems. When people have problems with system, be it online shopping or banking, they need to be able to contact somebody for help. In addition, call centers have created fresh opportunities, particularly for women in developed countries and for men and women in developing countries.