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Passage 2These days it's not unusual for someone on the way to work to receive a text message from her employer saying she's not needed right then. Although she's already found someone to pick up her kid from school and arranged for childcare, the work is no longer available and she won't be paid for it.Just-in-time scheduling like this is the latest new thing, designed to make retail outlets, restaurants, hotels, and other customer-driven businesses more nimble and keep costs to a minimum. Software can now predict up-to-the-minute staffing needs on the basis of information such as traffic patterns, weather, and sales merely hours or possibly minutes before. This way, employers don't need to pay anyone to be at work unless they're really needed. Companies can avoid paying wages to workers who'd otherwise just sit around. Employers assign workers tentative shifts, and then notify them a half-hour or ten minutes before the shift is scheduled to begin whether they're actually needed. Some even require workers to check in by phone, email , or text shortly before the shift starts.Just-in-time scheduling is another part of America's new "flexible" economy-along with the move to independent contractors and the growing reliance on “share economy" businesses, like Uber, that claim to do nothing more than connect customers with people willing to serve them. New software is behind all of this-digital platforms enabling businesses to match their costs exactly with their needs. The business media considers such flexibility a virtue. Wall Street rewards it with higher share prices. America's "flexible labor market" is the envy of business leaders and policy makers the world over.There's only one problem. The new flexibility doesn't allow working people to live their lives.Businesses used to consider employees fixed costs-like the costs of factories, offices, and equipment. Payrolls might grow or shrink over time as businesses expanded or contracted, but from year to year they were fairly constant. That meant steady jobs. And with steady jobs came steady paychecks along with regular and predictable work schedules.But employees are now becoming variable costs of doing business-depending on ups and downs in demand that may change hour by hour, possibly minute by minute. Yet working people have to pay the rent or make mortgage payments , and have to keep up with utility, food, and fuel bills. These bills don't vary much from month to month. They're the fixed costs of living ,American workers can't simultaneously be variable costs for business yet live in their own fixed-cost worlds.They're also husbands and wives and partners, most are parents , and they often have to take care of elderly relatives. All this requires coordinating schedules in advance-who's going to cover for whom, and when. But such planning is impossible when you don't know when you'll be needed at work. This makes businesses more efficient, but it's a nightmare for working families.Not only is a higher minimum wage critical. So are more regular and predictable hours. Some states require employers to pay any staff who report to work for a scheduled shift but who are then sent home, at least four hours pay at the minimum wage. But these laws haven't kept up with software that enables employers to do just-in-time scheduling-and inform workers minutes before their shift that they're not needed.We need a federal law requiring employers to pay for scheduled work. Alternatively, if American workers can't get more regular and predictable hours, they at least need stronger safety nets. These would include high-quality pre-school and after-school programs; unemployment insurance for people who can only get part-time work; and a minimum guaranteed basic income. All the statements about "family-friendly workplaces" are meaningless if workers have no control over when they're working.

What is the advantage of just-in-time scheduling according to the passage?
A、Customers can get the best quality service.
B、Employees can have flexible working hours.
C、Software companies can make a large profit.
D、Employers can reduce the cost of running a business.
【正确答案】：D