Flexible Work Schedule

[Ultegra134]

I've been assigned with a project for an academic course to express my opinion about flexible work schedules. Before I get started on my assignment, I'd like to start a discussion and read others' opinions too.

Flexible work can have a variety of forms, it could be either working flexible working hours, working from home, work by objectives, compressed days (The option to work more hours per day, that way your work week is compressed to fewer days). There are probably more to add to the list.

From my point of view, in some cases it can be quite beneficial, especially working from home can save you both time and money. You won't have to commute, nor pay fuel or tickets if you're using the public transportation. If you combine that with flexible working hours and/or with work by objective, you'll have the ability to work from anywhere, anytime you want!

In my case, I currently have an internship in which I'm working from home, using the technique of objectives. I'll have several assignments  that I'd have to complete throughout the week, and let me tell you, it's one of the best options I could have ever made.

What are your thoughts on this subject? It would be great if we could have some of your personal views here, it would be of great assistance for my course's assignment.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Flexible work schedule in my opinion doesn't solve the fact that people should be working less amount of time for the same wages because there are machines and flexibility should come from having more workers that are working less time for example but considering that this will not make people become a slave to their work, nobody is willing to do it. To me, I like the idea of reducing the amount of work hours and increasing the wages because that kind of thing can help boost morale and it is already proven that when you put a good salary for a worker, their productivity increases.

[virasog]

Flexible work schedule in my opinion doesn't solve the fact that people should be working less amount of time for the same wages because there are machines and flexibility should come from having more workers that are working less time for example but considering that this will not make people become a slave to their work, nobody is willing to do it. To me, I like the idea of reducing the amount of work hours and increasing the wages because that kind of thing can help boost morale and it is already proven that when you put a good salary for a worker, their productivity increases.

Obviously if a company is paying you they wont want that you work less hours and therefore be less productive but keep getting the same wages. When the employee hired by the company will work, only then the company will grow, and wages can be made out of the profit.
However, Flexible Work hours gives the employee the flexibility to work at their own feasible time but they still have to complete the 8 or 9 working hours quota.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

~

Obviously if a company is paying you they wont want that you work less hours and therefore be less productive but keep getting the same wages. When the employee hired by the company will work, only then the company will grow, and wages can be made out of the profit.
However, Flexible Work hours gives the employee the flexibility to work at their own feasible time but they still have to complete the 8 or 9 working hours quota.

That's how it should be when capitalism was first introduced, when the machines starts taking over and helping with the job, the people that are working should be getting less hours, this wasn't a very popular idea for many companies because they will have to pay more workers this way, working for 8 to 9 hours is not a flexible work schedule no matter how much you divide it in a day because in the end and 8 and 9 hours is 8 and 9 hours which takes a lot of your time for the day, imagine a job that slowly kills you, it doesn't matter if the schedule is flexible if you don't have any time to do anything out of work and pursue your other passions.

[hongchao123]

I have just free shedule (some tasks and deadline) and this really makes my life better

[palle11]

Whether we are liking it or not the world is going towards more relaxed work schedule with the internet and highly growing digital economy. Op's topic is really hanging on the current matter and I think he should find very good information to support his/her work.
A good example is the covid-19 year. That expose the world to working at home which was to protect people and to avoid the spread of the virus. IMO, that worked fine and till now, working at home has become the new normal for executives. Working from home definitely gives time for flexible time, you can go to occasions and do other things with same pay or more because you have time for other business engagement.

[Beparanf]

It depends on the nature of the work. Some work are not suitable for this method especially for those production work such as Manufacturing, Construction and other industries that requires physical work most of the time. Flexible working schedules is indeed convenient considering all the apps and gadget that we can use to meet our communication needs. The cons on this kind of working setup was weak coordination. It's hard to express what you really want to say via online only.

[BIT-BENDER]

To me flexible working, is not about how easy the work can be made to the owners leisure or fittings, but it allows the owner to add few/more works to it, flexible work is one thats subjected to only the owner, and not other factors, and the tools for a flexible work, are go about with tools that can follow the owner at any point even to the very closest of the owner, also complex work can be made flexible, if some tailoring is made in it by the owner.

[Distinctin]

If it can be allowed to work from home, then it is much better even you spend a lot of time on it. It is really okay to make OT as we never have to travel, take a ride and etc... Most of some businesses are run through this way, they usually hire people to work from home and have a good salary. Working from Monday to Friday, and have two rest days Saturday and Sunday, I think that was a fair schedule. But that also depends on the nature of our work and some bosses may require more time at work that sometimes we just use one day to take the rest.

[Findingnemo]

Work from home can be economical but letting the employees to work with friendly workspace can increase the productivity of them for sure, lets take a look at what Google is doing.

Increasing the working hours a day to work fewer days a week is not beneficial to the company because more hours a human work means they will be less productive.

[hatshepsut93]

Unfortunately, working from home isn't always the best solution, people tend to have lower productivity when they are unsupervised, and there can be a lot of distractions when working from home. And videocalls aren't a perfect replacement for live meetings and face-to-face talking, which is also important in work. I already saw a few software companies delaying their products last year because of the drop in productivity caused by switching to remote work.

[wxxyrqa]

Work from home can be economical but letting the employees to work with friendly workspace can increase the productivity of them for sure, lets take a look at what Google is doing.

Increasing the working hours a day to work fewer days a week is not beneficial to the company because more hours a human work means they will be less productive.

in any case, a certain Attitude for work, as well as a certain Atmosphere, is present only in the workplace. Of course, there are quite a few professions where a person takes his job home, but he still spends the bulk of his work at the workplace. I believe that such work is more effective. As an example, we can cite the current schooling of schoolchildren at home due to the pandemic, and many experts express their opinion that student performance has decreased because in the classroom they are more focused and more accepting of new knowledge than in online lessons. The situation is the same with adults when it comes to their work and their respective schedules.

[iamsheikhadil]

As an introvert, nothing attracts me more than working/studying from home, but the brutal truth is, home is mostly luxury, we got bedrooms with nice beds, and as time progresses we become lazy and then we start to ignore important points because no one can see us, and hence we will do activities like drinking coffee while listening to a lecture or play games by putting the lecture in minimize mode. But I do value my freedom a lot as well, I like offline works because it adds pressure on us which makes us ignited and energizes us by making the laziness go away but yeah I would never prefer to study/work in an environment where there is complete authority of someone else and my freedom isn't respected.

[Findingnemo]

Work from home can be economical but letting the employees to work with friendly workspace can increase the productivity of them for sure, lets take a look at what Google is doing.

Increasing the working hours a day to work fewer days a week is not beneficial to the company because more hours a human work means they will be less productive.

in any case, a certain Attitude for work, as well as a certain Atmosphere, is present only in the workplace. Of course, there are quite a few professions where a person takes his job home, but he still spends the bulk of his work at the workplace. I believe that such work is more effective. As an example, we can cite the current schooling of schoolchildren at home due to the pandemic, and many experts express their opinion that student performance has decreased because in the classroom they are more focused and more accepting of new knowledge than in online lessons. The situation is the same with adults when it comes to their work and their respective schedules.

Comparing work and online class is not perfect because not every children has the same kind of interest in the studying so they tends to focus on other things where there is a chance but work is not the same, its the responsibility given to the individual so they will surely complete it more sooner than the workplace to get more leisure time.

[aoluain]

Its a complicated topic, It obviously doesnt suit all industries but IMO
I really like the idea of having a choice of how to structure my working
week and balancing my work life and personal life.

At the moment it doesnt feel balanced

Work: 9am to 5.30pm
Commute: 8.15am to 9am and 5.30pm to 6.15pm
Lunch: 1 hour

My time away from the house and in work mode per day is 10 hours
[including commute and lunch]
Sleep 8 hours leaves 6 hours of the day where I get to choose what
to do.

I would happily work longer days to get a full day off either Friday or
Monday and have a 3 day block to myself.

Working from home is a new discussion brought in by COVID-19, it has
its advantages and disadvantages. he introverts love it and the
extraverts are struggling. There is in most cases no choice, it is imposed
by COVID restrictions and employers.

I would like to think that employees would have a choice how and when
to work from home, work very early from early morning to early afternoon
for example so long as the tasks get completed and help employees
stay motivated.

Just a few thoughts.

[Fatunad]

Unfortunately, working from home isn't always the best solution, people tend to have lower productivity when they are unsupervised, and there can be a lot of distractions when working from home. And videocalls aren't a perfect replacement for live meetings and face-to-face talking, which is also important in work. I already saw a few software companies delaying their products last year because of the drop in productivity caused by switching to remote work.

There's always a difference because we arent really get used to it since from the start when everything is still normal or before this pandemic came.Nothing beats out when
someone do work up into a real working place and have some face to face interactions or simply you do your job on a operational kind of point not just on sitting in front
of your pc and you are right that when it comes to productivity then its totally different when its unsupervised or no one do watch you but somehow we do need
to deal with the new normal and this is why we do have this kind of set-up or arrangement, yes, its odd but better to deal with it.

[samcrypto]

Unfortunately, working from home isn't always the best solution, people tend to have lower productivity when they are unsupervised, and there can be a lot of distractions when working from home. And videocalls aren't a perfect replacement for live meetings and face-to-face talking, which is also important in work. I already saw a few software companies delaying their products last year because of the drop in productivity caused by switching to remote work.

This has been the best solution during pandemic, but I also believe for that its not that productive compare to the normal work schedule but those companies who are doing this right now are just trying to survive, and doing everything they can to remain in-operation. There are some jobs that requires less supervision, and that can work on flexible schedule, but I think those in critical working station, they still need to put extra effort on going work as much as possible.

Flexible working schedule is fine for me as long as the company have the strong implementation, a proper planning on everything so people can work and follow all the guidelines. In my place, a work from home schedule seems to be more possible during these time of pandemic, though we are slowly getting back into a face to face meetings and work schedule.

[tabas]

Working with flexible time is one of the best things that someone can ever meet as they work whether it's work from home or work on site. But mostly, this is being applied on a work from home setup.
Many companies are starting to have this setup and they're making their employees do as it eases them and make them more productive.

[verita1]

Working from home and for objectives is the best suited to my lifestyle. Although I work in Marketing in Social Media I have a lot of work at home in this time of pandemic such as shopping for groceries and other jobs at home. I must make a schedule of weekly activities to accomplish my tasks. I share your idea that there is a saving in transport but the commitment is great. Sometimes I am exhausted but happy to comply with "Home and work" in a good operation.

[Twentyonepaylots]

Compared to the past situation of the 9-5 man, the coronavirus pandemic introducing different working modalities offered more humane work life for us salarymen. I believe this is a good step towards a much more ethical working society. It offers more benefits to the employee with little to no drawbacks on the employer's end, which is really good.