Workplace Flexibility
Realigning 20th-Century Jobs for a 21st-Century Workforce
Published on 15. March 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
424 pages
978-0-8014-7585-6 (ISBN)
Description
Although today's family has changed, the workplace has not-and the resulting one-size-fits-all workplace has become profoundly mismatched to the needs of an increasingly diverse and varied workforce. As changes in the composition of the workforce exert new demands on employers, considerable attention is being paid to how workplaces can be structured more flexibly to achieve the goals of employers and employees. Workplace Flexibility brings together sixteen essays authored by leading experts in economics, demography, political science, law, sociology, anthropology, and management. Collectively, they make the case for workplace flexibility, as well as examine existing business practices and public policy regarding flexibility in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Workplace Flexibility underscores the need to realign the structure of work in time and place with the needs of the changing workforce. Considering the positive and negative consequences for employer and employee alike, the authors argue that, although there is not an easy solution to creating and implementing flexibility practices-in the United States or abroad-redesigning the workplace is essential if today's workers are effectively to meet the demands of life and work and if employers are successfully able to attract and retain top talent and improve performance.
Workplace Flexibility underscores the need to realign the structure of work in time and place with the needs of the changing workforce. Considering the positive and negative consequences for employer and employee alike, the authors argue that, although there is not an easy solution to creating and implementing flexibility practices-in the United States or abroad-redesigning the workplace is essential if today's workers are effectively to meet the demands of life and work and if employers are successfully able to attract and retain top talent and improve performance.
Reviews / Votes
"For the first time in American history, women compose half the paid workforce, so more than ever before, America needs well-paying flexible jobs that fit the family needs of the workers in them. In this book, two of the country's leading experts bring together cutting-edge research on just this issue. Workplace Flexibility is a must-read for scholars and concerned citizens alike."-Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Time Bind and The Commercialization of Intimate Life "Workplace Flexibility collects state-of-the art contributions to the field of work-family research. Leading scholars crystallize what is known and present new findings in an accessible manner on an impressive array of issues. By pulling so much research in this area together in a single volume, Kathleen Christensen and Barbara Schneider have performed a most valuable service."-Jerry A. Jacobs, Department of Sociology, University of PennsylvaniaMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Cornell University Press
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
907 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8014-7585-6 (9780801475856)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Kathleen Christensen is Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and coeditor of Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition, also from Cornell. Barbara Schneider is John A. Hannah University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University and a Senior Fellow, NORC and The University of Chicago. She is coeditor of The AERA Handbook on Education Policy Research.
Content
Introduction: Evidence of the Worker and Workplace Mismatch
Kathleen Christensen and Barbara SchneiderPart 1: TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY WORKERS AND FAMILY LIFE
1. The Long Reach of the Job: Employment and Time for Family Life
Suzanne M. Bianchi and Vanessa R. Wight
2. Multitasking among Working Families: A Strategy for Dealing with the Time Squeeze
Shira Offer and Barbara Schneider
3. Coming Together at Dinner: A Study of Working Families
Elinor Ochs, Merav Shohet, Belinda Campos, and Margaret BeckPart 2: THE MISFIT BETWEEN OLD WORKPLACES AND A NEW WORKFORCE
4. Customizing Careers by Opting Out or Shifting Jobs: Dual-Earners Seeking Life-Course "Fit"
Phyllis Moen and Qinlei Huang
5. Keeping Engaged Parents on the Road to Success
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
6. Elderly Labor Supply: Work or Play?
Steven J. Haider and David S. LoughranPart 3: WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY: VOLUNTARY EMPLOYER PRACTICES IN THE U.S.
7. Employer-Provided Workplace Flexibility
Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, Sheila Eby, James T. Bond, and Tyler Wigton
8. Will the Real Family-Friendly Employer Please Stand Up: Who Permits Work Hour Reductions for Childcare?
Robert Hutchens and Patrick Nolen
9. Workplace Flexibility for Federal Civilian Employees
Kathleen Christensen, Matthew Weinshenker, and Blake Sisk
10. The Odd Disconnect: Our Family-Hostile Public Policy
Joan C. WilliamsPart 4: WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY: PRACTICES FROM ABROAD
11. Limiting Working Time and Supporting Flexibility for Employees: Public Policy Lessons from Europe
Janet C. Gornick
12. Parents' Experiences of Flexible Work Arrangements in Changing European Workplaces
Suzan Lewis and Laura den Dulk
13. Work Hours Mismatch in the United States and Australia
Robert Drago and Mark Wooden
14. Renewed Energy for Change: Government Policies Supporting Workplace Flexibility in Australia
Juliet Bourke
15. Flexible Employment and the Introduction of Work-Life Balance Programs in Japan
Machiko Osawa
16. Government Policies Supporting Workplace Flexibility: The State of Play in Japan
Sumiko IwaoConclusions: Solving the Workplace/Workforce Mismatch
Kathleen Christensen and Barbara Schneider
Kathleen Christensen and Barbara SchneiderPart 1: TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY WORKERS AND FAMILY LIFE
1. The Long Reach of the Job: Employment and Time for Family Life
Suzanne M. Bianchi and Vanessa R. Wight
2. Multitasking among Working Families: A Strategy for Dealing with the Time Squeeze
Shira Offer and Barbara Schneider
3. Coming Together at Dinner: A Study of Working Families
Elinor Ochs, Merav Shohet, Belinda Campos, and Margaret BeckPart 2: THE MISFIT BETWEEN OLD WORKPLACES AND A NEW WORKFORCE
4. Customizing Careers by Opting Out or Shifting Jobs: Dual-Earners Seeking Life-Course "Fit"
Phyllis Moen and Qinlei Huang
5. Keeping Engaged Parents on the Road to Success
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
6. Elderly Labor Supply: Work or Play?
Steven J. Haider and David S. LoughranPart 3: WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY: VOLUNTARY EMPLOYER PRACTICES IN THE U.S.
7. Employer-Provided Workplace Flexibility
Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, Sheila Eby, James T. Bond, and Tyler Wigton
8. Will the Real Family-Friendly Employer Please Stand Up: Who Permits Work Hour Reductions for Childcare?
Robert Hutchens and Patrick Nolen
9. Workplace Flexibility for Federal Civilian Employees
Kathleen Christensen, Matthew Weinshenker, and Blake Sisk
10. The Odd Disconnect: Our Family-Hostile Public Policy
Joan C. WilliamsPart 4: WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY: PRACTICES FROM ABROAD
11. Limiting Working Time and Supporting Flexibility for Employees: Public Policy Lessons from Europe
Janet C. Gornick
12. Parents' Experiences of Flexible Work Arrangements in Changing European Workplaces
Suzan Lewis and Laura den Dulk
13. Work Hours Mismatch in the United States and Australia
Robert Drago and Mark Wooden
14. Renewed Energy for Change: Government Policies Supporting Workplace Flexibility in Australia
Juliet Bourke
15. Flexible Employment and the Introduction of Work-Life Balance Programs in Japan
Machiko Osawa
16. Government Policies Supporting Workplace Flexibility: The State of Play in Japan
Sumiko IwaoConclusions: Solving the Workplace/Workforce Mismatch
Kathleen Christensen and Barbara Schneider