“八小时工作制”即将结束？

传统的“八小时工作制”，可能很快成为例外而不是规则。新的证据显示，我们正在达到弹性工作制的“临界点”，一些企业看到了“弹性工作制”的过人之处，这打破了常规的朝九晚五的工作模式。在灵智广告公司预测的2012年十二大趋势中，有一项就是说生于Y世代或千禧世代（即出生于1982年到1993年之间）的人们，正在打破传统的工作制。

商务及职业妇女协会预计，到2025年，会有75%的全球劳动力都是Y世代，越来越多的企业会增加弹性工作制项目，因为这样会对企业产生积极的意义。尽管如此，仍有一些企业担心，没有组织纪律的约束，员工注意力会涣散，不能专心致力于工作，影响工作成效。但事实恰恰相反，在一个充满信任的工作环境里，员工的忠诚度和效率会更高。

The traditional eight-hour workday may soon be the exception rather than the rule. New evidence shows that we're reaching a tipping point in terms of workplace flexibility, with businesses seeing the wisdom of allowing employees -- young employees especially -- to work odd hours, telecommute, and otherwise tweak the usual 9-to-5 grind.

One of the top 12 trends for 2012 as named by the communications firm Euro RSCG Worldwide is that employees in the Gen-Y or "millennial" demographic -- those born between roughly 1982 and 1993 -- are overturning the traditional workday.

The Business and Professional Women's Foundation estimates that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be Gen-Y. As early as next year, this group of younger Americans will already comprise 60% of the employees at companies such as Ernst & Young. And increasingly, companies creating workplace flexibility programs because it makes good business sense, not in the least because that's what their employees demand.

Gen-Y is spearheading this change because they don't want the same work environment their parents had. Between new technology and global workplace dynamics, companies are implementing flexible work arrangements for everyone, inclusive of Gen-Y. A recent Vodafone UK survey illustrates that 90 percent of employers enable work flexibility instead of sticking to traditional hours.

Leading the charge in the shift toward allowing employees to work anywhere around the world, at any time they want, are companies such as Ernst & Young, Aflac, and MITRE, which realize that they need to accommodate employees' personal lives if they want to retain them. "This notion of an eight-hour day is rapidly disappearing simply because we work so virtually and globally," says Maryella Gockel, Ernst & Young's flexibility strategy leader. By understanding Gen-Y's need for workplace flexibility, companies are better able to recruit and grow young talent for the future.

Aside from early adopters of workplace flexibility programs, many other companies are hesitant because of the traditional "command and control" approach laid out for older generations. The challenge these companies face is letting go and trusting their young employees -- even when they are telecommuting or using Facebook regularly at work.

Many companies fear that, without structure, employees will be distracted, not as engaged and less productive. In fact, the opposite is often true. A trusting work environment breeds more loyal employees and increases efficiency. Here are three reasons why successful companies will embrace workplace flexibility programs:

1. Gen-Y workers won't accept jobs where they can't access Facebook. Cisco's "Connected World Technology Report" shows that more than half of Gen-Y employees prioritize social media freedom over a higher salary when evaluating a job offer. Furthermore, more than half of them say that the Internet is an integral part of their lives. Gen-Y wants to be connected to their friends and families, not just their co-workers, throughout the day. Although some companies ban social media at work, other companies have embraced it as long as employees are using it professionally. "We do want people to use social networks in order to keep in touch with their colleagues and contacts," explains Gockel, whose company has no formal social media guidelines or policies.

2. Gen-Y values workplace flexibility over more money. More than one-third (37 percent) of Gen-Y workers would take a pay cut if it meant more flexibility on the job, reports a study by Mom Corps. Flexibility motivates Gen-Y workers to be more productive and loyal to their companies because they feel like they are respected. An employer that allows flexibility in the workplace also demonstrates that it understands the evolving modern-day work environment, which bodes well for the future.

3. Gen-Y workers are always connected to jobs through technology. Technology has made the traditional nine-to-five model blurry -- for all workers, of all generations, really. No one is ever out of touch, or off the clock. When workers go home, they are still "working" because who they are personally and professionally are becoming one in the same and interconnected. Workers are always representing the company, and more and more, it seems, that work email doesn't stop for anything or anyone. By no means does time away from the office equate to less work getting done.

Gen-Y: Y世代(美国的一个世代名称)