NEW PATTERNS OF WORK IN THE LABOUR MARKET

di De Piano Raffaele

Flexible work hours
Part-time work, flexitime and job-sharing have grown in importance in these last decades. Job sharing means that two or more people share a full-time position. It gives people the possibility of working part-time or of working for one company from Monday to Wednesday and then for another from Thursday to Friday.

Flexible contracts
Fixed-term contracts are often agreed between employers and employee. The employer has greater control over labour costs and the employee may be motivated by the prospect of a renewable contract.
Temporary work. “Temps” are people who are employed by agencies which send them to different offices for short periods of time to do the job of someone who is ill or on holiday.
Portfolio working means working simultaneously for different employers. Portfolio workers perform a similar role to freelancers with the exception that they complete several different types of work at the same time.

Flexible workbase
Hot desking, also called “location independent working”, is where employees work partly from home and partly at a central office or some other temporary workplace. Workers do not have their own desks, but are allocated work space according to their needs, keeping their personal belongings in lockers or filing cabinets when not in the office.
Teleworking, also called “telecommuting” or “cybercommuting” refers to the practice of working from home using information technology (IT). It is becoming more widespread. Many companies have already discovered the benefits of allowing staff to carry out their daily duties from the comfort of their own homes.
Video and telephone conferencing is the practice of holding a “virtual” meeting or conference. Using modern information technology techniques, people are able to take part in discussion and communicate “face to face” even when they are thousands of kilometres apart. The benefits include a cut in travel expenses and a faster pace of work.