Work, Family, and Workplace Flexibility

Book excerpt: This volume contains a collection of articles that examines workplace flexibility, work-family conflict, and workers' increasing lack of leisure time and how it pertains to long-term U.S. national stability. The contributors argue that current workplaces are not meeting the needs of today's workers, and the lack of workplace flexibility is having huge human capital costs that are affecting every sector of society. They explore how flexibility, despite having fixed costs, can be an effective tool for attracting and retaining employees and increasing productivity -- the key being to make the workplace flexible in ways that are profitable for employers and also engage workers to feel more satisfied and committed to their jobs.