Pros & Cons of the Decades-Long Trend of a More Flexible Workplace Environment
There has been a decades-long shift to a more flexible workplace environment, wherein tens of millions of Americans have become involved in freelancing, contracting, working on a temporary basis, or outsourcing in some way as their primary form of employment. Staffing models seen today shift the risk to workers, unlike past strategies where firms overstaffed and offered stable hours. According to Houseman, a labor economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, this has made “work less secure.” While the arrangements do have some advantages for workers, like added flexibility and control over one’s schedule, freelancers, contractors and temporaries may still live with uncertainty because there is no guarantee when the next assignment will be. Reported by Scheiber of NYTimes.
