Flexi-workers

This is the trend of moving towards a more relaxed form of employment in the Information Society. Castells proposed this theory as an example of the shift in labour trends within the new Network Society. This has been brought about by: [|Downsizing] and [|Subcontracting]: As employees are laid off, they are brought in on a contractual/consulting basis. This gives both the management and the employee flexibility as they work on only an individual contracted project at a time. The work is on-off and the employee is paid for the time and task performed, without any social benefits, etc.

The trend is, thus, towards self employment through temporary and part-time work, as an employee bases their income on work available as opposed to jobs. The individualization of a person’s work, their skills, and knowledge is becoming a major feature of employment in the Network Society.

=Advantages of flexible working=

Flexible working is not just a matter of location; it is about a new business model with the help of new communication technologies to gain both business and personal advantage. It is about having freedom to work anywhere at any time with access to resources link with traditional offices. With the tremendous among of freedom available, it bring benefits to both business and workers

Research shows that flexible working actually increases worker performance, reduces absenteeism, improves recruitment and retention and reduces the space requirement.


 * Advantages of flexible working**
 * Space utilization
 * Improves Staff retention
 * Reduces Absenteeism
 * Increases worker Performance
 * Reduces Travel cost and time
 * Improves Health and safety
 * Increases Social inclusion
 * Reduces Resources consumption

=**See Also**=

Labour in New Economy The New Economy =Works Cited=

Webster, Frank. __The Information Society Reader.__ London: Routledge, 2004.(138-149) Flexi-worker.2005.http://voyager2.userve.net/~flexiworker/advantages.html