better to fluctuations in demand for products and services. Furthermore, the workplace has experienced an increased demand for non-traditional business hours to satisfy customer needs. Organizations must be able to provide timely, high-quality service in an environment where complex communication takes place across differing cultures, times and space.In Australia, a shift has occurred away from blue-collar work towards managerial, professional and technical work. The number of professional and technical jobs has increased 300 percent since 1950. Additionally, a quarter of all new jobs currently being created in Australia are either professional or technical in nature. Consider that the business environment of corporate Australia developed out of its industrial, manufacturing origins. Highly structured working hours that benefited factory production are not necessarily optimum conditions for knowledge, information and services industries. Organizations are discovering that knowledge workers cannot be managed like blue-collar workers; compulsory scheduling will not necessarily generate commitment.Increased use of new technology and telecommunications in business - fax machines, voice mail, cellular phones, videoconferencing, Internet, e-mail - has facilitated global communication. At the same time, these technological forces have blurred the boundaries about where and when work is done. Employees are increasingly accessible to their employers across space and time. Technology has helped to play a role in overcoming outdated attitudes about the perceived limits of various work arrangements.Working parents face increasing family pressures to effectively handle childcare, elder care and household responsibilities. Corporations are preoccupied with profitability and survival in a highly competitive world. Employees feel this stress and attempt to juggle the demands of both home and work. For employers, the need is for Human Resources tools ...
