What are the alternative work arrangements that a company can use to better accommodate the needs of employees?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: To meet today's staffing and demographic challenges, many companies are adopting alternative work arrangements to better accommodate the needs of employees–and to reduce costs in many cases. Four of the most popular arrangements are flextime, telecommuting, job sharing, and flexible career paths:
? Flextime is a scheduling system that allows employees to choose their own hours, within certain limits.
? Telecommuting, working from home or another location using electronic communications to stay in touch with colleagues, suppliers, and customers, helps employees balance their professional and personal commitments because they can spend less time in transit between home and work.
? Job sharing, which lets two employees share a single full-time job and split the salary and benefits, can be an attractive alternative for people who want part-time hours in situations normally reserved for full-time employees.
? Perhaps the most challenging of all alternative work arrangements are situations in which employees want to limit their work time or leave the workforce entirely for an extended period to raise children, attend school, volunteer, or pursue other personal interests. Programs such as Deloitte's mass career customization give employees more freedom in designing their own career paths.