Excerpt from Providence Business News:

PROVIDENCE, RI – One employee wants to work early in the morning, leaving by 1 p.m. to care for her young children. Another wants to work four days a week for the next four months, working longer hours in that compressed week to save an extra day for his marathon training.

Which one gets the flexible schedule they want? At an increasing number of employers, both might hear a "yes" from management.

Flexible scheduling is becoming more commonplace among companies, including Rhode Island employers who are facing increased competition to attract and retain talented workers. And regardless of industry, human resources specialists say the shift will continue because workers in the millennial age group, who do not want rigid schedules, soon will become the largest share of the workforce.

Small and large companies alike have programs that encourage flexible hours or workweeks, but consultants and human resources agents say the programs have to be tailored to different occupations for employees to participate fully.

Shawmut Design and Construction, which has offices in Providence and Boston, recently created a program encouraging flexible work schedules, which are available to all employees, whether they work in an office or at a construction site.

Depending on their work location, Shawmut employees get a menu of options. Choices include a compressed workweek, flexible hours, job-sharing and potentially telecommuting, according to Marianne Monte, chief people officer for Shawmut.

"There does need to be leadership on a job site," Monte said. "We would never leave a site without a project superintendent."

The idea of a flexible schedule is still somewhat unique in construction. But Shawmut is making the effort because its employees have said in surveys that they needed more flexible hours and schedules that allow a balance between work and home life.

With the help of a consultant, Illinois-based Life Meets Work Inc., company officials started re-evaluating what a workweek could be. "Could we think differently about people who are project managing the job, or estimating the job. Or even, superintendents that report to us," Monte said.

Since the company launched the Shawmut Flex program, more than 100 employees have formally signed up

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