CHENNAI: Thanks to globalisation and the resultant outsourcing possibilities, the job market in India has been witnessing a drastic change of late. Flexi-time jobs were unheard of a few years ago. Today, these have become a part of the evolving global village where the accent is on 24/7 services. And, there is also greater keenness among corporates to keep the labour arbitrage advantage in tact, especially in the wake of rising levels of attrition rates. Sensing the huge potential for flexi-time jobs in a market where job seekers are becoming more demanding, Chennai-based consulting firm AVTAR Career Creators has come out with a novel service called AVTAR I-Win for professionally qualified women.

AVTAR I-Win (AVTAR Interim-Women Managers' Interface Network) will play a facilitator role. According to Saundarya Rajesh, CEO of AVTAR Career Creators and Concept-Owner of AVTAR I-WIN, there has never been a shortage of part-time assignments from the employer side. There is also no paucity of professionally qualified women to take these jobs. "However, there is a serious lack of an enabler between the two,'' Ms. Saundarya points out.

"In a true consulting style, we spent many hours with corporates, nudging them to try this concept. They may be hesitant at first, since issues like HR policy, data integrity and the very novelty of the idea have to be managed. But we are sure we have a winner in this. Our profiling method is such that we address every concern that the companies have," she says.

At least five big corporates from the BPO (business process outsourcing), leasing and banking sectors are now taking recourse to AVTAR I-Win to recruit women for some flexi-time jobs, Ms. Saundarya told The Hindu.

According to Lakshmi Radhakrishnan, Head (Consumer Practice), AVTAR Career Creators, there are many variants in AVTAR's I-WIN concept. "Part-time working as a concept is as old as the hills,'' she says. "Yet, it is clustered with other new ways of working as a departure from the industrial age norm of an eight-hour day. Certainly, it has become more popular as a work option, especially for women," Ms. Lakshmi adds.

Part-timing, job-sharing and term-time working are three options available to women who register on AVTAR's I-Win website, www.avtariwin.com.

Part-timing could be a popular option for women returning from maternity leave. According to Ms. Lakshmi, a majority of people working part-time in many organisations are womenJob-sharing is a structured form of part-time working, where a job is shared between two people. Models for job-sharing could vary. "A 50:50 split is common, but other variations are possible. Some employers find it best that both workers have at least a few hours in common, so that the baton can be passed on more effectively. This way, the job-sharers are able to pass on necessary information and brief each other on current tasks and issues. Some job shares, however, may involve a more rigid distinction of skills, so the overlap in tasks may be less,'' she says. A term-time working contract will typically be a part-time for five hours during the day, and will also allow the I-Winner to take off during the school holiday period.

AVTAR is also planning to add one more variant to the I-Win concept — Phased retirement. This service will be a relief for the "about-to-retire category of women professionals.''

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