Shift jobs, or shift work, allows employees more options for when they can start and finish their work each day. Some days, employees may choose to work early shifts, and other days they may opt for later shifts. These flexible work hours could allow employees the ability to attend to important personal matters that would normally not be possible without a flexible work schedule.

There can be many benefits for this way of scheduling workers, like achieving a better work-life balance. In some cases, it is necessary for a particular business to require different work shifts, for example, a business that is open 24 hours. These 24 hour operations may have night shift jobs and overnight jobs to fill.

But not all businesses are open 24 hours. For businesses that operate on a more traditional 8-5 type of schedule, there could be considerable benefits to employees, and employers, if allowed to adjust their work hours by an hour or two here and an hour or two there. Or, perhaps, work 7-4 every day or alternatively 11-8 every day. We will look at the top nine reasons why job candidates are looking for more flexibility in scheduling.

When you allow employees the ability to alter or choose their schedules more freely, this can provide them with a greater sense of security. They may desire this control for many reasons, like caring for children during typical work hours.

If employees are allowed to arrive at an earlier or later time than when most people arrive to work, they can avoid the typical morning traffic jam. This goes for the drive home as well. Also, less traffic jam driving means less frustration and stress. They arrive to work feeling emotionally better. They’re also less likely to be late because of unexpected traffic. Some companies don’t care about unexpected traffic, they just want their staff on time or else.

We all know morning people and night owls. If an employer has the ability to offer a flexible work schedule, one that allows its employees to work when they are at their peak performance time, this would benefit everyone. A true win-win. This may not seem like the most obvious, and it may not always be stated in this way, but it’s true. For those who are not morning people, it would be a benefit to them to come in just a couple of hours later. They might not consider it, but that easy drive in will be a huge benefit that they will greatly appreciate, as already mentioned earlier. Two birds.

A writer at TheMuse.com mentioned a conversation she had with a college senior. The student stated that she, “…wanted the freedom to take a short nap right after lunch when her energy flagged the most and the ability to work late at night when her brain was sharpest.” If an employer can accommodate this, why not?

Whether a single parent or a couple, one can adjust or setup their work schedule to avoid as much child care costs as possible. Imagine two parents who can both adjust their schedules, then they can avoid a lot of child care costs and the time associated with traveling their each day. People may need, not desire, flexible work hours so that they can work, period. Meaning that if pay is somewhat low and childcare costs are somewhat high, it might make more sense not to have a two income household. It may need to become a one income household.

But a flexible schedule can help make things work out. For those with children in school, if one parent was able to start their work day at seven, they might be able to get their child, or children, soon after the school day ends. There are often programs at schools which allow students to stay a little late, but not six in the evening when most people would finally be getting home from work.

For those who have had too many micromanagers, or are just coming from working for one, working a sort of alternative type schedule might mean more independence. Not all employees desire this, but some do. Some employees are very independent, and may be used to that way of working in a previous role. In fact, The Balance Careers quoted a survey that found, “62% of working parents think they are more productive working from home than in a traditional workplace.” This could be for a variety of reasons, like too many pointless, never-ending meetings. Or it could be that they are slowed down by their managers who try to dictate every little thing that they do.

Shift jobs and flexible work schedules allow employees to have a healthier work-life balance. This could mean combining a lot of these together, like adjusting a work schedule so that a parent is able to pick up their children from school. Or taking them to school in the morning. It’s not just the convenience or savings of picking them up and avoiding after-school child care costs, but just being able to spend more time with them each day. Being able to pick them up from school and chatting with them about school while their minds are still fresh is a huge bonus. Every parent knows this. This also allows people to be a more involved parent. We’ve all seen those movies where the parent is married to their job and neglects their family. Sometimes the spouse is used to it, but not the children. They need their parents around more often.

Flexible job hours allow employees to worry less about personal responsibilities that might normally fall during traditional work hours. When you have a flexible work schedule, and a flexible employer, you can worry less about not being able to attend to personal affairs that usually happen during normal business hours. Imagine a school meeting that can only happen between 8 AM and 3 PM. Or maybe you need to see a dentist or a doctor that is only open during weekdays. Optometrist, perhaps. There are numerous things that can happen and need to be dealt with during the typical workday, and a more flexible work schedule will make life a lot less stressful.

With a more flexible work schedule and work from home options, many absences can be avoided which would have otherwise caused less work to get done. Imagine a 2-3 hour appointment in the middle of the day and in the opposite direction of work. Many employees may feel the need to take a vacation day to deal with it. But if an employee is allowed to work from home, they can start earlier, go to the appointment, then come back and finish their work.

Number nine is sort of a catch-all and even includes number two on the list. I just didn’t believe these should be broken up into several of their own points when they make a lot of sense as a whole. So, related to a reduced commute time is less fuel costs since a quicker commute—less  stop and go and such—means less fuel.

Another scheduling option that can save even more money and more time is the so-called four tens. This would be working ten hours a day, four days a week. Even less commuting since we can erase one day of back and forth driving. It could also mean every week has a three-day weekend. And imagine the environmental consequence if of a lot less people on the road every day. That’s a huge environmental impact that businesses can brag about.

Job advertisements have been evolving from the traditional job post. Those boring, text-only job posts are no longer attracting the best talent because the way we consume information has changed. Job seekers will often look over a job post and make a split-second decision of whether or not they should apply for a job.

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