There are plenty of issues to discuss and points of view to consider when it comes to the work environment in the United States. One of such matters is the matter of a flexible work policy. Those who advocate for workplaces offering their employees flexibility in certain aspects talk about the profits that it brings. For example, the work-life balance that people are most likely to better maintain is reported to be beneficial to companies as well, since it directly affects the workers’ productivity and attitude. Gale (2021) states that a survey conducted in 2019 found that almost one-third of employees left their job because their current workplace lacked flexibility.
However, there are particular concerns about some of the propositions. For one, when looking at the case of telecommuting, employers have problems with implementing supervision of workers in such an environment, as well as with their possible availability when needed the most. In addition, none of the work flexibility proponents take into consideration the fact that low-wage workers do not gain from these suggestions at all. On the contrary, keeping the conditions of low-wage work more rigid is the means of the workers’ protection from exploitation (Gale, 2021). This issue’s relation to the field of business administration is evident since business administrators are usually the people conducting their work in offices. Whether or not implementing telecommuting or granting each staffer their working conditions is an advantage to the field is to be thoroughly discussed.
Interestingly, flexible work policies can also apply to the issue of retirement, debates on which as a phenomenon happen separately. It is a known fact that benefits from Social Security are available to workers reaching the age of 65. However, Gale (2016) claims that lately, there have been observations concerning the running out of money from the Social Security fund, which will result in a loss of access to profits for retired workers. The reason for that is the fact that people’s lives – and, consequently, their requirement for benefits – have become longer – which does not generate value for the Social Security system. One of the possible solutions that are being proposed is raising the retirement age. Still, that again excludes low-income employees, who are not as healthy and do not live as long, which makes their lives harder if the retirement age is to be raised.
Furthermore, opponents to the solution stated above argue that there is a more impactful way to deal: raise the taxes, especially for the rich. That would solve the problems of the system’s funding and do it by holding the wealthy accountable, not by damaging the poor (Gale, 2016). The field of business administration, alongside any other field, holds an interest in this matter. The age of a person’s retirement, as well as the benefits they gain for all the years of hard work, is something that everyone is concerned with regardless of if they fall into the category of more or less privileged.
Although both of these issues are important to talk about, the flexibility of a working environment is the more significant of the two in business administration. Since the business industry keeps pace with technological advances, it might be wise to consider ways of making the employee’s job performances more productive with the use of technologies. A potential audience to persuade by this would be the older audience since the younger generation knows exactly how effective working from home or with particular alterations to one’s schedule can be.
Older people, however, are usually more conservative, thus the arguments that demonstrate how beneficial flexibility is for businesses can help: for example, the fact that companies save around $11,000 in a year for every person working remotely half of the time, or that such policies attract more employees, which expands the organization’s economy (Gale, 2021). In conclusion, this policy has the chance to do well in business administration due to the field’s specifics, so its implementation is definitely worth giving a try.
References
Flexible Workplaces. (2021). In Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale. Web.
Retirement Age. (2016). In Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale. Web.