An interesting statistic has come to our attention – more than a third of UK workers (35%), are willing to take a pay cut in exchange for permanent remote work, according to a survey of 2,000 workers by Reed.co.uk. Why then, are more employers not offering such flexibility? It should save them money in terms of salaries and also office space resources.
According to analysis of 5 million UK job adverts by Timewise, 74% of vacancies still offer no flexible working options such as part-time, working from home, flexible shifts etc. This means that people who need flexibility are excluded from the majority of job vacancies, and employers are missing out on vital skills and talent as a result.
At present, job vacancies are at their highest level since official records began, yet the portion of jobs offering flexible options has grown by just 4% since last year. Medical/health roles lead the way: at least 1 in 3 job adverts now offer flex (usually in the form of flexible shifts). And many office-based roles are catching up, such as IT (28%) and marketing (27%).
However, other roles which can’t easily offer home-working are getting left behind; the ratio remains stubbornly low for construction (12%), and manufacturing (6%). Effectively there is a two-tier workforce of flexible haves and have nots.
Hiring managers need to look at job design, and consider which types of flexibility are compatible with the delivery demands of the role. There is no one-size-fits-all flexible working pattern, but there is always a way to offer employees more input and control, even in frontline roles.
