单项选择题

Job Sharing Job sharing refers to a situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job. The two people willingly act as part-time workers, working enough hours between them to fulfill die duties of a full-time worker. If they each work half the hours of the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job’’s wages, its holidays and its other benefits. Of course, some job sharers take a smaller or larger share of the responsibilities of the position, receiving a lesser or greater share of the benefits. What is Job-sharing Job sharing differs from conventional part-time work in that it is mainly (although not exclusively) occurring in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment. Until recently, these characteristics were not generally seen as harmonious with anything less than full-time employment. Thus, the demands of job sharing are rewarded by better pay and conditions and, ideally, more satisfaction than conventional part-time work. Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which is fit for increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of each job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people. Job sharing, by contrast, is Not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other pursuits. Job-sharers As would be expected, women comprise the bulk of job sharers. A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain’’s Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) revealed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between the age of 20 and 40 years of age. Subsequent studies have come up with similar results. Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to take up part-time work because it would have meant reduced wages and lower status. Job sharing also offered an acceptable transition back into full-time work after a long absence. Job-sharing Positions Although job sharing is still seen as too radical by many companies, those that have chosen to experiment with it include large businesses with conservative reputations. One of Britain’’s major banks, the National Westminster Bank, for example, offers a limited number of shared positions intended to give long-serving employees a break from full-time work. British Telecom, meanwhile, maintains 25 shared posts because, according to its personnel department, "Some of the job sharers might otherwise have left the company and we are now able to remain them." Two wide ranging surveys carried out in the country in 1989 revealed the proportion of large and medium-sized private-sector businesses that allow job sharing to be between 16 and 25 per cent. Some 78 per cent of job sharers, however, work in public-sector jobs. The types of jobs that are shared vary but include positions that involve responsibility for many subordinates (下属). Research into shared senior management positions suggest that even such high-pressure work can be shared between two people with little adjustment, provided the personalities and temperaments (性情) of the sharers are not vastly different from one another. A 1991 study of employees working under supervisory positions shared by two people showed that those who prefer such a situation do so for several reasons. Most popular were those who felt there was less bias in the evaluation of their work because having two assessments provided for a greater degree of fairness. Job-sharing and One-Person Job The necessity of close cooperation and collaboration when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position, one-person jobs. However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position. Moreover, there must be an equitable allocation of both routine tasks and interesting ones. In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals. Job sharers have no intention of later resuming full-time work.