New forms of employment - Week 5

New forms of employment

Employment is changing day by day. New forms of jobs are created while some of the traditional jobs are being obsolete. While some are being obsolete some jobs are being changed the way it used to be, It is performed in a different work environment.

New forms of employments are emerging all over the world but these changes are clearly visible mainly in the developed first world. There are certain countries still follow the traditional methods while some are following these new forms of employment but these are not regulated by any authorities. New Forms of works have emerged due to the flexibility needed by employers and employees.

"Flexible working is on the rise, giving employees flexibility on where, when and the hours they work. It's traditionally been associated with the needs of parents and carers, but increasingly organisations are recognising the business benefits of a more flexible way of working" (CIPD, 2018).

According to CIPD (2018), Flexible work is, the employee is given a degree of flexibility in terms of where, when, how long, and what time the employee works. Flexible work includes,

• Part-time work - Contracted to do part-time work
• Term time work - Employee works full time during school holidays
• Job sharing - Two people share the job responsibility between them
• Flexitime - Employees are allowed to choose when to start and end work
• Compressed hours - Working full time within a few days during a week
• Annual hours - Working the fixed annual number of hours within the length of the working day and week
• Working from home - Work carried out from home
• Mobile working/teleworking - This enables employees to work from a remote location
• Career breaks - Employees are given the opportunity to take breaks from work up to a certain period of time which will allow the employees to pursue anything they like
• Commissioned outcomes - Paid based on the output of the individual.

According to research conducted by "European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions" in 2015, they have identified new forms of employment which are available in Europe. Followings are the new forms of employment they have identified. Here they have analysed the positive and the negative impact of each form.

 Employee sharing

Employee or employees are jointly hired by a set of employers and these employees are being rotated in between the employers.  In this method, there are 2 distinctive ways of employee sharing.

1. Strategic employee sharing -  A network is formed by the employers and they recruit one or more workers and they will be sent to work within the network of the employers.

Positive side Negative side Practical within small and medium enterprises. Employee might be subjected to stress due to rotating work environment. Welfare and training of the employee is held by the participating company. Worker won't be having regular pattern of work. More flexibility for both parties. Need to adopt to different working environments. Employees get full time jobs and diversified working environment. Personal life could not be planned may be due to having to travel different locations. Develop their skills. Might have to deal with different managers with different expectations. Employers get skilled worker when needed, Employers might not get the required person when requires. Cost is shared among the participating companies. Details of one company could go to another

2.Ad-hoc employee sharing - Employer sends the employee to another organisation  to work due to unable to give employment temporarily.

Job sharing

Positive side Negative side Job sharing is beneficial for both parties. Comparison between employees. Employees are being able to work while they are committed with family or education. Employees might have to cover if other one fails Employers reap the benefit by having the full time position covered by 2 individuals. Extra cost for training, administration, uniforms. This system helps the employers to provide employment to disable people and new mothers who are returning to work after maternity leave. Two or more people will be trained for one job role. This allows employees to have a work-life balance while employers get to retain their skilful staffs Higher cost comparing to having a one full time staff. - Employer has to adopt according to the individuals.

In this employer hires two or more people to fill in a full time job. For example, an employer hires two part-time people to fill a full-time job role.

Interim management

Positive side Negative side Interim management is a short-term flexible work option. Higher cost for the company These managers are mostly in their 40's and 50's. Will have only a shorter period to achieve more  Need to manage the permanent staff of the organisation Interim managers might undergo high level of stress Highly paid comparing to the permanent manager They need to adopt quickly to a new working condition

Highly skilled experts are hired to solve a problem or to manage a project. In some cases interim managers are hired to fulfill a post until a suitable permanent manager is found.

Casual Work

The employee is not given a permanent job, only required to work if there is a demand by the employer.

	Positive side Negative side Employers get cheap labour Low skilled workers Lower HR costs Less committed workers Benefits for seasonal businesses Unable to plan personal life - Limited social security. - Zero hours contract

 

ICT based mobile work

This is the new way of work in the modern digital world. This allows the employee to work from anywhere and anytime through digital platforms.

	Positive side Negative side High flexibility Work intensification Job creations Increased stressed level Work autonomy possible confusion of work and personal working time Less infrastructure and administration cost for the employer Distraction of employees - Highly depended on digital technology - communication issues - Social isolation

 

Voucher-based work

This is where employer purchases a voucher from an government organisation or authorised body and pay the employee

	Positive side Negative side Enables employee to work legally No proper training given Will help the government to curb the illegal workers Health and safety issues Worker would be able claim from regular national insurance in the events of accident or damage Job insecurity High flexibility Low skill labour

 

Portfolio work

An individual works for many companies or clients doing contracted works or projects.

	Positive side Negative side Self managed only for highly skilled personnel Independent Need specialist knowledge in most of the area Highly paid Different working culture Different working environments Lack of trust between the worker and the organisation. Access to highly skilled and knowledgeable worker for organisations -

 

Crowd employment

This is also known as crowd sourcing or crowd work. This is a structure where online platforms are used to bring together talents all over the world to solve a specific problem or project.

	Positive side Negative side Collective effort by many individuals Lack of data protection Small project or tasks Less job security Flexibility Work might be halted in the middle Self employment -

 

Conclusion

In conclusion new forms of employments are emerging everywhere. And Employment format and structures are changing. New ways are being adopted to cope with the change. These new form of employments has its own positive and negative effects. Some of the forms are being widely used while some are not used much. Even though negatives are present in these new forms of employments mostly it brings flexibility, convenience to employers, employees and local governments (Eurofound, 2015).  

References

CIPD, 2018. CIPD. [Online] Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/flexible-working/factsheet#6652 [Accessed 1 September 2018].

Eurofound, 2015. New forms of employment. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.