Introduction
The United States is experiencing a sequence of structural and demographic transformations. Such transformations highly influence the manner in which women equilibrate their place of work and family responsibilities. Many women are getting into the American workforce; concurrently, working women are encountering different difficulties, which bar them from completing their work and household duties successfully.
In view of such transformations, workplace flexibility is turning into an issue of concern in flourishing organizations. This is mainly the case in big companies that encounter substantial pressures concerning offering female workers enhanced flexibility in the place of work.
With the concerns of social and structural challenges, future organizations will be compelled to ascertain more flexible organizational arrangements (Putnam, Myers, & Gailliard, 2014). Technological developments will result in enhanced workplace flexibility, thus making organizations progress toward more efficiency, productivity, and continued competitive benefit.
Kathleen Christensen
Workplace flexibility is a subject of sustained professional arguments (Christensen, 2013). Since progressively, more women are getting into the American workforce; workplace flexibility is turning into an issue of great interest. Flexibility in the place of work is the fundamental focus of Kathleen Christensen, who takes workplace flexibility to be a social and structural matter. Flexibility in the place of work is a multifaceted result of numerous social and structural transformations of the American civilization.
With respect to the social perspective, the American way of life has undergone extensive social transformations in the last three decades. Females, particularly the middle-class women, have got into and remained in the workforce. The widespread majority of the families in the United States have a couple of earners. Additionally, the level of single-parent or single-earner homes is persistently rising. In this regard, women require higher flexibility to handle their workplace and family duties.
Structurally, the concern of flexibility in the place of work reveals and validates the extant mismatch involving the social and demographic modifications and the inert character of workplace practices. As affirmed by Christensen (2013), an all-encompassing place of work, having its permanent formations with linear profession pathways, is not suitable in the variable demographic and social situations in the United States anymore.
Though the requirements of the labor force are varying, the structure of the workplace in the majority of organizations stays unaltered. The working parents and private segment workers in the US, in addition to older employees, are bearing the price of the structural disparity. Though sluggish to react to such disparity, they are generating chances for more flexibility in the manner in which work is managed.
Towards the start of the twenty-first century, a nonflexible place of work did not satisfy the requirements of workers, particularly women. The concerns of the families in the United States have varied, and just organizations that recognize the significance of workplace flexibility and offer flexible formations in the places of work can accomplish higher effectiveness of functions and outmatch their rivals.
Aspects Influencing the Flexibility of Women in the Workplace
Different aspects have influenced the flexibility of women in the place of work. Essentially, big companies encounter higher pressures to act in response to the issues of the flexibility of workers as compared to small companies (Stone & Hernandez, 2013). This is mostly because attributable to a greater level of workers. Big organizations cannot offer the scope of workplace formations to satisfy the special requirements of every employee.
Meanwhile, most workers, encompassing women, are either hesitant or do not articulate their flexibility interests. Most individuals have a feeling that workplace flexibility is a personal difficulty that has slight to do with organizations. Such people believe that workers should strive to meet their family and profession needs. However, with augments in the level of work-family challenges, workplace flexibility progressively turns into a public concern that all organizations must handle.
Irrespective of the rising rate of workplace flexibility studies, most companies still maintain that workplace flexibility is extremely expensive and is not worth the attempt. Furthermore, some companies do not recognize the way of executing and maintaining flexibility in the place of work, and most workers fail to request flexibility. Every one of these factors has made flexibility in the workplace an unattainable undertaking.
Aspects Affecting the Pay of Women in the Labor Force
Even as women face the dearth of workplace flexibility, gender disparity in pay keeps on enlarging. The gender pay disparity is normally linked to dissimilarities in the proficiencies and qualifications of men and women (Manning & Saidi, 2010). Women are thought to lack proficiencies and understanding required to accomplish key organizational objectives. Women dedicate some of their time to family obligations and tasks, which makes them unable to build up labor experience to develop professionally.
Most women deliberately evade jobs that need wide-ranging skills and proficiencies, while some employers are unwilling to employ women in demanding positions. Discrimination in the marketplace is also a considerable aspect of gender pay disparities.
The majority of employers are convinced that women are less fruitful as compared to men. Nevertheless, the lack of employment chances does not permit women to express and grasp their productiveness potential. Lastly, pay structure could be accountable for continued pay disparities in the American organizations as it tends to favor men.
What May Change
The future could create enhanced flexibility of workplace settings for women. Within a decade, most organizations will have realized the worth of workplace flexibility, in addition to its significance for development and productivity (Galinsky, Matos, & Sakai-O’Neill, 2013). In this future time, technological development will offer enhanced workplace flexibility through such things as telecommuting, freelancing, and part-time working arrangements.
Additionally, workplace flexibility will readily turn into the source of competitive benefit in organizations, which will result in employment and retention of progressively more women in the labor force. In the next decade, women might have the opportunity to get employment with working arrangements that assist in the satisfaction of both family and profession requirements. This will depend on the companies’ ability to manage the extant structural disparity.
Conclusion
Flexibility in the place of work denotes a constant professional issue. The progressively more women getting into the workforce make workplace flexibility an issue of great interest. Flexibility in the workplace is an intricate result of numerous social and structural transformations. Flexibility in the workplace is dependent on dissimilar factors; for instance, some organizations consider it too expensive to execute. Gender disparity in pay is persistent due to factors like women being considered to lack adequate skills and proficiencies.
The next ten years could provide enhanced workplace flexibility and working arrangements in favor of women. Most organizations will recognize the worth of flexibility in the workplace and its connotations for development and productivity. Technological developments will create chances for improved flexibility resulting in enhanced productivity, success, and retained a competitive benefit by many organizations.
References
Christensen, K. (2013). Launching the workplace flexibility movement: Work family research and a program of social change. Community, Work & Family, 16(3), 261-284.
Galinsky, E., Matos, K., & Sakai-O’Neill, K. (2013). Workplace flexibility: A model of change. Community, Work & Family, 16(3), 285-306.
Manning, A., & Saidi, F. (2010). Understanding the gender pay gap: What’s competition got to do with it? Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 63(4), 681-698.
Putnam, L. L., Myers, K. K., & Gailliard, B. M. (2014). Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility and exploring options for new directions. Human relations, 67(4), 413-440.
Stone, P., & Hernandez, L. A. (2013). The all‐or‐nothing workplace: Flexibility stigma and “opting out” among professional‐managerial women. Journal of Social Issues, 69(2), 235-256.