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Will workers continue to pay a price for flexibility?
Article

Will workers continue to pay a price for flexibility?

Employees with non-traditional working arrangements have been punished in pay and promotions alike. As flexible work becomes the norm, can we end the penalty?

Katie Bishop
BBC, 2022
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8

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Recommendation

Writing for BBC, Katie Bishop offers a timely assessment of the future and sustainability of remote and hybrid work. She raises essential questions about contemporary work and considers various scenarios about the future of remote, hybrid and in-office workers. She asks if employers will remain open to virtual staff members and if corporations will give advancement preference to in-office employees or equally value remote workers? Bishop focuses more on analyzing the present situation than on making predictions about future workplaces or the relationships among traditional, remote and hybrid workers, but her caution to remote workers about their career path rings loud and clear.

Summary

Employees may find that flexible work means lower pay and slower promotion.

Office-based work has been the norm since the birth of the modern corporation, but COVID lockdowns uprooted traditional work-life habits and venues. The impact of this change dramatically affects employees’ attitudes toward the discipline of work and their life choices. It may also dramatically affect their career trajectory.

Today, 75% of workers in the United Kingdom prioritize work-life balance more highly than they did before the pandemic. And, the number of remote jobs has grown by 20% since 2020. However, individual workers’ desire for flexible work arrangements may be a strong desire, but it is usually not a necessity. However, since the pandemic, the number of men who are seeking flexible work arrangements has increased by 30%, and is now ...

About the Author

Katie Bishop is a reporter for the British Broadcasting Company.

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