4 ms·

Well, any sort of job that isn´t strictly associated with pure officework. Something like doctor, nurse, any sort of trade, outside sales, any sort of in-perso

Well, any sort of job that isn´t strictly associated with pure officework. Something like doctor, nurse, any sort of trade, outside sales, any sort of in-person service, police, fireman, trucking/delivery. Most of these professions employ more people than IT, I believe. Even a lot of other professions have certains times of the year/situation where you have to be there. For instance, if you're an accountant, during end of year inventories, you have to be around to take a physical inventory. If you're a lawyer or judge, you have to show up to court.

godelski 10y ago
Not only do you need to show up, but you need to show up at certain times. It would be a mess if doctors or judges just came in when they felt like it. Though a counter point I can see lawyers having flexible schedules, except for court appearances. I think most jobs will require some time being in the location, it is just about if you can change what those hours are. But just from the list you mentioned and the ones I was thinking of, are the jobs that cannot be flexible more male dominated?
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  Well, the previous comment I was replying to had a caveat that was this applies to jobs that "weren't customer facing". If you take that away, most of the jobs that need you to be at a certain place and certain time require a certain amount of physical labor. At the risk of igniting a gender war (which I have accused of on this board), men on average are stronger than women are. If you're talking about jobs with a large physical component, men generally gravitate to/are more effective at those jobs.
amyjess 10y ago
You absolutely can do it for doctors. This is what multi-doctor practices are for. Most people don't see regular GPs anymore; they go to multi-doctor practices that hire a half dozen doctors, and when they walk in, they see whatever doctor is on duty at the moment. Same with nurses: let's face it... do you even remember if you've seen the same nurse twice at the doctor's office? And retail is more flexible than you might think. My mom works retail. If she needs to be out on a certain day, she'll just swap with a co-worker. Her company even has a website where you can offer up your shifts to your coworkers and pick up shifts offered up by your coworkers. You also mentioned delivery: that's currently being subsumed by the gig economy. UberEats, Amazon Prime Now, and Postmates all use a business model where requests are dispatched to whatever drivers happen to be online and available for orders at the time. It's amazing how flexible things can get when you hire a huge pool of warm bodies, and if some of them don't show up, you just have the others do double duty.
- jimmywanger 10y ago
  > You absolutely can do it for doctors. > If she needs to be out on a certain day, she'll just swap with a co-worker. > It's amazing how flexible things can get when you hire a huge pool of warm bodies I think you're selectively missing certain nuances in the article. The article says that the company written about creates both flexibility in hours and flexibility in location. If you're a health care professional or in retail, you absolutely have to be at the location. Also, if you're performing a procedure, you need to schedule a team and equipment to be available, which also implies a time and place for your schedule. Also, the article mentions unpredictable schedules, such as staying up late with a baby or elder health care. For doctors and retail, sure you can swap shifts, etc etc. But when you take a shift, you're obligated to show up a week in advance. Last minute objections don't cut it. And re: hiring a huge pool of warm bodies, that implies that your job is fungible and that most jobs are like gig jobs, where you can get paid for the time you're working. I don't understand what you're saying - when you say "hire", are you implying a salary or an hourly rate and if some of them don't show up, do the remaining workers get paid more? That doesn't work for any sort of low margin business. If you're a restaurant, you can't just hire six dishwashers and hope four of them wander in during Friday rush.

godelski 10y ago

Not only do you need to show up, but you need to show up at certain times. It would be a mess if doctors or judges just came in when they felt like it. Though a counter point I can see lawyers having flexible schedules, except for court appearances. I think most jobs will require some time being in the location, it is just about if you can change what those hours are. But just from the list you mentioned and the ones I was thinking of, are the jobs that cannot be flexible more male dominated?

jimmywanger 10y ago
Well, the previous comment I was replying to had a caveat that was this applies to jobs that "weren't customer facing". If you take that away, most of the jobs that need you to be at a certain place and certain time require a certain amount of physical labor. At the risk of igniting a gender war (which I have accused of on this board), men on average are stronger than women are. If you're talking about jobs with a large physical component, men generally gravitate to/are more effective at those jobs.

amyjess 10y ago

You absolutely can do it for doctors. This is what multi-doctor practices are for. Most people don't see regular GPs anymore; they go to multi-doctor practices that hire a half dozen doctors, and when they walk in, they see whatever doctor is on duty at the moment. Same with nurses: let's face it... do you even remember if you've seen the same nurse twice at the doctor's office? And retail is more flexible than you might think. My mom works retail. If she needs to be out on a certain day, she'll just swap with a co-worker. Her company even has a website where you can offer up your shifts to your coworkers and pick up shifts offered up by your coworkers. You also mentioned delivery: that's currently being subsumed by the gig economy. UberEats, Amazon Prime Now, and Postmates all use a business model where requests are dispatched to whatever drivers happen to be online and available for orders at the time. It's amazing how flexible things can get when you hire a huge pool of warm bodies, and if some of them don't show up, you just have the others do double duty.

jimmywanger 10y ago
> You absolutely can do it for doctors. > If she needs to be out on a certain day, she'll just swap with a co-worker. > It's amazing how flexible things can get when you hire a huge pool of warm bodies I think you're selectively missing certain nuances in the article. The article says that the company written about creates both flexibility in hours and flexibility in location. If you're a health care professional or in retail, you absolutely have to be at the location. Also, if you're performing a procedure, you need to schedule a team and equipment to be available, which also implies a time and place for your schedule. Also, the article mentions unpredictable schedules, such as staying up late with a baby or elder health care. For doctors and retail, sure you can swap shifts, etc etc. But when you take a shift, you're obligated to show up a week in advance. Last minute objections don't cut it. And re: hiring a huge pool of warm bodies, that implies that your job is fungible and that most jobs are like gig jobs, where you can get paid for the time you're working. I don't understand what you're saying - when you say "hire", are you implying a salary or an hourly rate and if some of them don't show up, do the remaining workers get paid more? That doesn't work for any sort of low margin business. If you're a restaurant, you can't just hire six dishwashers and hope four of them wander in during Friday rush.