The Downside to Flexible Scheduling
It used to be that people would go to work at 9am and come home at 5pm during the week. Well, those days are gone, and most people are expected to have some sort of open availability at work. Working nights and weekends is something that most employers expect instead of it being only for when things got really crazy at work.These days flexible scheduling is all the rage. It was first touted as way for employees to be able to have time with their families during the day if they needed it, or have Monday off and work Saturday instead. While it was first championed by companies who figured it was a progressive move to accommodate employees, who does it really benefit?While having flexible scheduling can be a benefit, it can really be a pain, too. It can be frustrating to work one week all during the day, and then the next week have to work all week at night. It wreaks havoc on your sleep schedule and your social schedule as well. While working a late night or a weekend day here and there isn’t a big deal, it can be annoying when companies don’t give you enough notice as to when you have to work.Flexible scheduling seems to be more about giving employers a more flexible way to schedule the workers. Have you ever seen your boss working anything other than a 9-5 schedule during the week, or maybe working one day during the weekend? Chances are good that only the middle to lower level managers actually work the nights and weekends. If you are part-time you can be sure that you will be working just about every weekend.Even if you are full-time, your schedule might not stay the same for more than a week. While flexible scheduling can be a great thing in times of an emergency, or when you really need time off, it can be burden for the most part. As you mature and get older, you want more of a set schedule and to know when you are going to be at work. You can’t be 18 and sleep for a couple hours a night forever.When it comes to flexible scheduling, who really wins? While it might be great to have an option to work from 4-12 as opposed to 9-5, does it really become flexible when you get stuck working the late shift against your will?
