Why aren't Working Hours more Flexible?

Updated

While going through all of my old posts, it was pretty entertaining to see how precedent the below text was. Written around four years ago¹, there’s obviously more to mention now that we’re living in the post times.

Perhaps the one thing missing from this analysis was an acceleration of the tools we use as well as a driving force to move everyone home. Certainly in the four years since this was originally published, the tools we use have gotten better (Zoom, Slack, etc). But along with the game theory aspects of this, companies may have continued as a Business as Usual state until Covid-19 shocked the system. Once we’re all vaccinated, it’ll be fascinating to see which companies force everyone to come back to the office and which allow a more flexible schedule.

Original

One night, several thought occurred to me regarding hiring practices.

1. There is a certain nonzero percentage of people who are not morning people
2. These people are not enjoying the typical 9-5 job.
3. It stands to reason that if companies want to be competitive in hiring the best talent, companies need ways to distinguish themselves. Shouldn’t it be the case that there should be more choices offered regarding job hours, as a way to separate themselves from the pack?

Why hasn’t this occurred?

It can be self perpetuating. Because no high value employees have asked for it, no one asks for it. The other option is that the benefits of having everyone there at roughly the same time outweigh the costs of acquiring talent at a lower cost.

Because let’s be honest, who wouldn’t give preference to a position with more flexible hours?