Short-time worker delayed producing pattern (8)
I believe the answer is:
template
'pattern' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'short-time worker delayed' is the wordplay.
'short-time worker' becomes 'temp' (I've seen this before).
'delayed' becomes 'late' (I've seen this before).
'temp'+'late'='TEMPLATE'
'producing' is the link.
(Other definitions for template that I've seen before include "Pattern, model" , "gauge" , "Shape serving as model" , "Pattern shape" , "Preset file or document format" .)