Time On Their Side You need good employees. They need increased flexibility. Here's how the twain shall meet.

Is the 9-to-5 workday, once the centerpiece of U.S. business,taking its last breath? A stunning 55 percent of companies recentlysurveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management say theyoffer flexible work scheduling, or flextime, to their workers.

The trend is clear. In May 1991, according to the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics, just 15.1 percent of the nation's workers hada flextime option; by May 1997, that figure had risen to 27.1percent. Not surprisingly, workers are cheering this increasingimplementation of flextime. "Employees are clearly saying theywant more flexibility in how they manage their work hours,"says Fred Foulkes, director of the Human Resources Policy Instituteat Boston University's School of Management.

Listen up, because offering flextime may allow you to competehead-to-head with the biggest companies for top workers."Offer flextime, and it will definitely help your recruitingefforts," says Anne Chamberlain, a human resources consultantwith Buck Consultants Inc., an employment benefits and consultingfirm in New York City. Research demonstrates that prospectiveemployees attach a great deal of weight to how much scheduleflexibility a company offers, Chamberlain says. And in an economywhere the best workers have no shortage of tempting job offers, notproviding flextime may just steer terrific job candidateselsewhere.