Open Shifts

An open shift is one that has a job, a date, and a time but is not allocated to a specific person. Open shifts can be used as placeholders for shifts that need to be filled in order to fulfill your scheduling needs. Work shifts that have not been filled or assigned to a worker are known as open shifts. Notifications of open shifts assist organizations to coordinate their labor needs with demand, reducing understaffing, and allowing workers more flexibility. As more businesses realize that predetermined timetables don’t work for them, demand for open-shift scheduling has increased. Employees are also heavily involved in the process, with employees being able to choose shifts that best fit their schedules, all within a collaborative company-wide framework. While an open-shift schedule may be a better alternative, it can be more time-consuming and unpredictable than other methods of scheduling. The more open shifts a company has, the greater the chance of not having enough employees to appropriately serve its consumers.