While it is true that most companies in Central America focus on face-to-face work or combination with teleworking, others have already begun to apply different formulas that are beginning to emerge as a trend.
The 2024 Labour Market Survey, conducted by Michael Page Central America, reveals the new trends that are dominating the region’s working day.
For example, 50.6 percent of respondents said they attend the office full-time and 45.8% combined remote and face-to-face work. However, 3.6 per cent only do remote work; and 50.6 per cent indicated that they go to the office three days a week, 29.9% do 4 days; 16.9 per cent go 2 days; and 2.6 per cent go only once to the office in the week.
Thus, 64.5% of the companies participating in the survey indicated that it offers their collaboration teleworking and 42.8% apply a flexible working day that allows collaborators to choose the hours of start and finish of the daily work, always within the parameters of thebb.
According to the survey, Smartworking is a new trend that is beginning to become visible, as 7.2 per cent of the survey participants said they are applying this modality, which allows collaborators to decide not only where to work but also when to do so.
While 5.4 per cent of companies apply another form of weekly cycles, which allows workers to average working hours longer than one week, i.e. to work 56, 40 and 48 hours as a scheme for a total of 144 hours that are averaged for a 48-hour cycle per week.
Another trend that begins to emerge is the hourly bank that allows workers to accumulate credits or debits of hours worked over a period of several months, provided that certain limits are respectedf . Overworked hours can be compensated for paid time off or used for holidays. 4.8 per cent of survey participants are applying this modality.
There is also the flexible work that companies are applying with the compressed week, which consists of working the same weekly hours on less days a week, on longer daily days; for example, working 4 days of 10 hours and rest 3, the famous 4-3rd working week of 4 days. And this is already being applied by 3.6% of the companies that participated in the survey.
The labour market survey revealed that 67.3% of the survey participants see the four-day workweek positive. However, 58.3% of respondents do not see the possibility of implementing it within their company realistic. 23.8% do see it as feasible. 16.7 per cent have a neutral opinion of the four-day workweek, while 10.1 per cent view it negatively.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared inLa Estrella