Flexible Working – Where is it going?

Nine out of ten UK professionals expect flexible working to be the normal form of employment in the coming years, according to HR Recruiter Ortus.

Conducting research amongst 450 professionals, the survey revealed that flexible working will be the preferred model of employment in the near future. The allure of remote employees is due to the lack of travel costs and the costs to a business of running a desk in an office.

Although flexible working is expected to be the norm, its growth does not seem to be welcomed Only 1 in 10 of the surveyed individuals believed it to be beneficial to the working sector.

It’s expected that the adoption of flexible working will be done so for the benefit of the business rather than the workforce itself.

Professionals listed flexible working as being the least important out of six vital benefits to a company. This came under insurance, which garnered 16% of the vote, a company mobile phone or Blackberry at 18%, and annual bonus scheme at 24%.

The two highest ranked benefits were a company pension scheme at 29%, and a 25 days holiday allowance topped the bill at 40%.

Matt Comley is Commercial Director at Director Appointments, who specialise in the recruitment of sales directors and finance director jobs. He shares his opinion on the flexible working research: “With the average cost of a desk per month in London being £650 + internet, phone line etc it’s not surprising that the benefits of flexible working are becoming apparent – in my experience this can work perfectly.

“But you have to be careful of the dog barking in the background and small children screaming for more episodes of Peppa Pig, especially when you are making those important calls.

“The other two obvious savings are travel, and childcare if required. Not only can you start work at 8am rather than starting the commute, using time efficiently, but you can also find the time to do the school run if needed.”

Samantha McGawley, Head of Marketing at Jobs Direct, added:  ”Staff flexibility is an interesting topic, which has been dominating the HR environment for a while. As recruiters we’ve noticed an increase in flexible working hours in the number of vacancies we manage, however it does not reflect the percentage of those who think it will be the future norm. It is more likely to be a “softly, softly” approach whereby it will be implemented progressively.”