ICT and job flexibility: a solution for women's employment?
A recent conference on Women’s Perspectives in the Labor Market in the Czech Republic touched on a sore nerve: does the job flexibility of ICTs facilitate women working, or does it enable women’s exploitation? The panel on Women and IT brought together researchers, representatives from companies, internet and computer trainers, and women information technology (IT) specialists, all with varying views on this debate.
Flexibility
“Flexibility” is a new buzz word in the Czech labor market, with emphasis placed on flexible hours and that one does not have to physically be at work in order to work. Women in the Czech Republic returning from maternity leave may find the possibility of working from home especially attractive, as it allows for an easier balancing act of child care and work. But workers want to understand where flexibility leads, if it is indeed positive, and for whom – the employees or the employers?
Linda Sokacova, Programme Director of Gender Studies, O.P.S. Prague, one of the conference organisers, saw the panel on women and IT as a way to help flesh out these points. “ICTs facilitate reconciliation of private and work life. It helps people to work more effectively, so they have free time for their private and family life.” But she cautioned about bad practice and “negative flexibility, when an employee must always be on-line and prepared to work.” She noted that participants appreciated the possibility of debate that the event sparked.
Unlimited opportunity?
Business sector representatives at the conference emphasized positive aspects of job flexibility. Workers can have a flexible schedule, working when it is convenient for them and in the comfort of their own home, without disruptions. This may increase concentration and productivity. No time is lost in commuting and there is less investment in work attire.
In order to take advantage of these new job opportunities, a lot of emphasis was placed on the need to expand women’s computer skills, especially of those women returning to the labor market after maternity leave or over the age of fifty, who may have had less experience with computers. Lenka Simerska, European Regional Coordinator for the Association for Progressive Communication’s Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) and a long-time trainer in ICTs, disagreed with the seemingly “evangelist” approach to training being touted at the conference, where women are encouraged to get on the ICT train and taught only basic computer skills in order to join the ranks of data processors and IT call centers. “It’s as if women are a blank slate, untouched by ICTs and now we all have to evangelise – but offering a ceiling of skills that we teach them.”
In contrast, a series of trainings that Simerska has coordinated in conjunction with IBM take a different tack. “Our trainings are very different, we don’t teach computer skills. It’s about what IT is today, as an area of business and of development, and each women connecting her skills and background and recognising what she can really do in the IT field.” IBM is seen as serious about employing more women in its ranks, being one of a few companies that offer good conditions for women with children thanks to flex-time. Women in management positions at IBM participate in the training sessions and offer women a new take on IT Work. Many people see IT work as being only about programming and hardware, comments Simerska, and miss out on the vast opportunities represented by the IT sector including IT solutions, sales, services, etc.
Flexible sweatshops?
Ivana Sindlerova, representative from the European Contact Group, an organisation that accompanies women working from home including migrant workers, presented research on women’s home working conditions. Gender stereotypes were reinforced and the double burden of women’s work became even more acute with women working from home, she criticised. Women were not only juggling the responsibilities of child care and household work as well as paid employment, there was greater expectation that they should be able to maintain all roles and even increased demands on their time. Often working from home was not seen as “really working”.
Women in the audience reminded attendees that the workplace has historically been a space of women’s rights struggle – women have fought for the right to work in the public sphere and this right should not be forgotten nor diminished by the seeming convenience of working from home. The loss of the collective, that opportunity of being together in formal and informal spaces in the workplace for problem solving, creative stimulation, or worker organisation was also cited as a negative aspect.
Flexibility needs structure to be effective
Lenka Simerska offered the APC’s on-line work style as a case study, both confirming many pros and cons of online work. APC’s workplace is an on-line community from around the world working in different time zones and on multiple projects, commented Simerska. Everyone follows certain work rules in order to facilitate team communication. Information management and prioritisation of important versus urgent tasks are key given the immediacy of virtual communication and the easy distraction of instant messaging requests. “Working on-line needs to be taken account as a new managerial skill – it’s important not to forget that there is a skill to it.” Employers, too, need to take worker needs, conditions and the skill-building necessary for online work under consideration. She said that informal, collective spaces are also necessary on-line – a virtual coffee break – for personal sharing and the kind of creative networking that such places inspire. The twenty-plus APC team members share personal check-ins every Monday, so that everyone on team has an idea of upcoming work plans, but also any interesting individual news. Programme members and project teams hold real-time online meetings straddling time zones. “Flexibility has its limits,” observed Simerska. “Not everyone can separate office from home, within the home environment.”
The aim of the conference was to examine policies and strategies for promoting women’s equality with men in the labor arena. Certainly flexibility in working hours and place provide greater opportunity for women’s participation in the work force, but not necessarily on equal terms. Simerska observed that further debate both on working conditions in any IT setting, as well as the multiple roles that women can play in the IT world, is needed.
ICTs represent new opportunities, new types of jobs, and a new work structure. With all this change possible, what better moment for a breakthrough on women’s labor discrimination?
