Flexible Hours, Job Sharing Increasing

More than 60% of U.S. companies now offer some form of non-traditional 9-to-5 work schedules, says human resources consulting group, William M. Mercer Inc., New York. That's a dramatic jump from just five years ago when only 40% of employers offered such arrangements. Mercer's survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. companies found that the fastest-growing arrangement is telecommuting. One-third of those surveyed now offer employees the option of working at home -- complete with modem-equipped computers that link them to the office -- compared with just 6% in 1993. In addition, the percentage of companies offering job-sharing jumped from 20% to 31% in the last five years.