Briefing: Employers and staff either side of a widening divide over flexible working

By Jon Guy

There is a looming disconnect between workers and employers over the ability to work flexibly.

With the Covid pandemic forcing a shift to working from home for many businesses, a number of leading insurers moved swiftly to say that staff could split their working hours between home and the office.

But, two years on, there are increasing numbers of businesses looking to bring workers back to the workplace – which flies in the face of a desire from staff to retain their flexibility.

Workspace expert BizSpace this week (11 November 2024) released the results of its survey of over 2,000 employees across the country, which sought to understand how different work setups – whether remote, hybrid or fully in-office – affected productivity, mental wellbeing and career prospects.

It found that 65% of respondents believed flexible working enhanced productivity, with 45% attributing this result to reduced time spent commuting.

Hybrid workers especially appreciated structured office days for boosting focus, particularly concerning deadlines and teamwork tasks.

Among surveyed employees, 71% reported improvements in mental wellbeing due to flexible work arrangements, with remote workers citing the freedom to step away for breaks and the absence of a commute as key benefits.

However, 39% of fully remote workers admitted to feeling somewhat disconnected from their colleagues, with 22% noting that this affected their motivation over time.

Pros and cons

While flexible work is popular, career progression remains a concern, with 52% of respondents who work flexibly reporting that they felt promotions were harder to achieve outside of a traditional office  . Notably, only 14% of managers surveyed believed remote work had no impact on advancement, underscoring a potential disadvantage for remote workers seeking to climb the ladder.

Key benefits of remote work included less commuting stress (54%) and the ability to juggle home responsibilities (47%).

Conversely, 42% of in-office workers reported fewer distractions, citing the focused environment as a plus. Despite its benefits, 48% of remote employees found it challenging to manage domestic distractions, with childcare and household responsibilities often hindering productivity.

Looking to the future, 62% of participants anticipated that flexible work would become the norm within the next decade. Younger generations, particularly 45% of Gen Z and millennials, indicated that they would prioritise roles that offered flexible options when seeking new jobs.

Employers did not mirror the concerns of employees of employees, however, and were keen to see staff spend more time in the workplace.

Surveyed employers cited concerns over the ability for staff to be trained remotely and the inability of colleagues to support each other, as the conversations that often occur in the workplace concerning roles and any issues are not possible if staff are working remotely.

UK legislation around flexible working, which came into force in April allows staff to request flexible working from the first day in the job, and there are concerns that the months to come may see a rise in employees seeking legal redress if they feel their employers are being anything but flexible when it comes to how they allow staff to structure their working weeks.