New Working Patterns

 

Manpower plans have to be amended to account for changes in working patterns. The traditional view of employment is of a full-time permanent contract with a single employer. Whilst this still applies to many firms and employees, increasing numbers are being employed under new working patterns. The labour market is more flexible nowadays, with 2 workers in 4 outside permanent employment. The benefits to a firm include lower total labour costs and a more flexible workforce. Trade union representation and negotiating power are also reduced. The following are the main new working patterns.

 

Part-time Work – although part-time seasonal work is traditional in the agriculture and tourism industries, part-time work has grown in importance in the rest of the economy. Firms such as the Burton Group and British Home Stores have converted many full-time posts into part-time ones; up to two-thirds of the staff of Sears plc are now part-time.

 

One UK worker in four is now a part-timer. Many 'women returners' are employed on a part-time basis: in 1992 only 6 per cent of men, but 45 per cent of women were part-time workers. People employed for less than 16 hours a week do not enjoy the same employment-related rights (eg redundancy payments) as full-time staff, employers can avoid NI contributions to low-paid part-time workers, and the existence of more part-timers and weaker unions has made it easier for firms to shed staff.

 

Flexible hours – the number of workers of 'flexitime' has increased: a core time band (eg between 10 am and 4 pm) is established when all employees must be present, with the rest of their weekly hours being flexible to suit individuals themselves.

 

Shift Work – continuous 24-hours operation is appropriate for many industries. Employees may rotate shifts or may be based on 'permanent nights'. Although the hourly labour costs will rise the increased production helps account for fixed costs, and so unit costs still decrease.

 

Job Sharing – two or more employees may decide to share a full-time post, with the employer's agreement. One benefit to the firm is the likelihood of increase cover at times of sickness or absence.

 

Fixed Contracts – a firm might recruit staff on a short-term contract, perhaps to carry out a project. This is often found in the construction industry and is now used in many other areas, for example in recruiting certain managers and senior staff. Benefits to the firm include greater control over labour costs, the opportunity to bring in 'new blood', and a highly motivated employee where the 'carrot' of a renewed contract exists. Firms may also employ people on a consultancy basis to complete a project. In such cases the person is self-employed and the consultancy will be terminated once the project is completed.

 

Sub Contracting – this is when a firm lets out work to an external company. It is also referred to as Outsourcing. Types of jobs commonly subcontracted include printing and publishing, computer technical support, general cleaning, window cleaning, and security.

 

In-House - When work is carried out within the company. it does have several benefits: The in-house

 

Why produce in-house?

Keeping the work within the organisation does have several benefits: The firm has more control over costs (both wages and materials) and can cut their cloth accordingly. They also have control over quality and importantly, delivery dates. Relying on other people to meet deadlines always carries an element of risk. Look at the Scottish Parliament building: over-budget and delayed!

 

Confidentiality is also kept within the firm since no outsiders are privy to information with regards to the company's activities.

 

Why use subcontractors?

If a firm does sub-contract work out it may be due to several factors: the company may not be specialists in the work needed to be carried out; the cost of undertaking the task may be too expensive and is more cost effective to hire someone else's services and/or equipment, in particular relating to ICT and Computer Technical Support within firms. The company may be working at the factory's maximum capacity and rather than let orders go, they can use other firms to meet demand. If an order is a one-off and unlikely to be repeated, perhaps due to the size of the order, then again work may be carried out.

 

Strengths of Subcontractor

Normally the external firm will have more experience in the particular job or skill required, and properly trained individuals capable of higher performance than in-house employees. They also will have more up-to-date equipment and machinery. For example a school could produce its own Yearbook, but to save production costs and be guaranteed of a large order completed to a deadline by professionals, they may let a printing firm carry out the work.

 

Benefits of outsourcing to the firm

When firms use subcontractors they achieve other benefits in addition to having the task done more expertly. The firm can 'stick to the knitting', in other words concentrate on what they excel at. It also frees up workers' time, especially managerial time, which can be spent on another project.

 

Customer supply and demand can be matched better without resulting in excess capacity being left idle during quiet times.

 

In terms of facilities it also means that they may not have to update machinery to do a particular job and again can free up resources within the factory. Stock levels can be reduced, as finished orders will be delivered at an agreed date to the customers. This can result in a Just-in-time system being used. Finally, the firm can diversify into other products by using the subcontractors' strengths.