Disclaimer: This piece reflects the writer’s opinion and compiled opinions of others on the subject matter. It does not reflect the opinions or beliefs of WORLD OF BUZZ.
As someone who’s been working from her parents’ place since the pandemic, the work-from-home flexibility has definitely been an upside to a terrible situation. But, is it really enough?
Sure, working from the comfort of my hometown is great, after all, I’m fed and taken care of, but with my parents getting old, it should be me taking care of them. Yet, my nine to five schedule tends to get in the way of that.
That’s why an American cloud-based software company, Salesforce, is now saying that the nine-to-five work schedule is dead, as shared in a post called, ‘5 ways the future of work can make our lives better‘.
“The nine-to-five workday is dead. In our always-on, always-connected world, it no longer makes sense to expect employees to work an eight-hour shift and do their jobs successfully,” they wrote.
Now, no longer working a nine-to-five job doesn’t mean our professional lives have to take a back seat. It just means that we can give our personal lives an equal promise of our time without having to choose between the two.
For example, I’ve always felt bad that I can’t help my mum with the housework, because she tends to do chores while I’m on the job. But, with the elimination of the nine-to-five working hours, I can just take a break from work to help wash the dishes and mop the house, and then go back to work even if it’s at 6pm or 7pm, as long as I get my work done.
And this applies to all sorts of personal situations.
“(The death of nine-to-five) has been made especially true over the past year when many employees have been faced with new challenges like homeschooling children when schools closed or dealing with sick family members during the pandemic.”
“With increased flexibility and creative time-off strategies, employers will help make their workers healthy and happy, ultimately leading to better outcomes for the company,” they added.
After all, anyone would be able to work better when they don’t have any personal problems to worry about because they’ve already dealt with it.
Not having to worry about my mother struggling through her back pains to clean the house (because I’ve already cleaned the house for her) gives me the ability to use my brainpower for the betterment of my role with my company, no matter what time it is.
Now that everyone is working from home, many personal circumstances can arise at any moment and expecting there to be no personal circumstances is unrealistic. Hence, why put employees in a position to choose between their personal obligations and professional obligations, when they can do both on their own schedule?
Though it is understandable that this cannot apply to certain industries as their work calls for them to be present at specific timings, but for those whose work has lesser time constraints, they should be given the trust and freedom to work and be human accordingly (but, of course, you know, don’t take advantage of that).
So, who knows, the death of nine-to-five may very well be a good thing.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comment section.
Also read: Study: Food Prices In Malaysia Increased By 6.35%, Yet Minimum Wage Is Still The Same
