In a paper presented to the conference, they showed that those sectors and demographic groups that contributed most to the rise in unemployment in 2007-09 also contributed most to its decline in 2009-12, which suggests that shifts in relative demand for workers could not explain the high level of unemployment.

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Every change on the factory floor that allows workers to adapt to sudden shifts in demand reduces the excess capacity of people and plant space Dell must maintain to get products out on time.

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At a frenetic factory outside the village of Ringaskiddy, Ireland, workers have spent the past year laboring in 12-hour shifts around the clock, seven days a week, turning out 10 tonnes of a plain-looking white powder with extraordinary qualities.

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The fluctuation in demand during the day, and the fact that workers want uninterrupted shifts, makes the problem tricky.

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The European Working Time Directive requires that workers in all occupations have at least 11 hours off duty each day, and limits shifts to 13 hours.

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Regal Entertainment Group, which operates more than 500 theaters in 38 states, last month rolled back shifts for non-salaried workers to 30 hours per week, putting them under the threshold at which employers are required to provide health insurance.

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People are angry over the difficult working conditions of the workers, including lengthy shifts for crane operators who are forced to eat and even relieve themselves in tiny, cramped spaces, according to labor unions.

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Companies may partner to coordinate shifts so that workers split time between the companies, and third-party clearing houses may emerge in a new value-added role of helping employers and employees stitch together part-time shifts.

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