In a study of more than 2,000 workers by recruitment firm Reed, workers have indicated that they would be more willing to take on a role that offered them more flexible ways of working than a shorter work week. The findings come at a time when a large-scale four-day week trial is currently being held in the UK and when around a third of employers have already shaved a day off the traditional five-day week.
The study found that the phrase ‘flexible working’ would be most likely to influence a jobseeker’s decision to apply for a position with 45% of respondents saying that it would convince them to do so. However, a four-day week came in second with one in four jobseekers saying this would motivate them to apply whilst working from home came in third.
However, opportunities for career progression or advancement came even further down the list indicating that employee priorities continue to shift.
Despite flexibility being preferred, around 89% of workers are in favour of a four-day week but has yet to translate into being able to attract talent to an organisation. This could be due to the perception that piling five-days’ worth of work into four days could lead to extra stress and burnout amongst employees.
Affording employees full flexibility and autonomy over how, when and where they choose to work empowers them to oversee their workloads and could improve their sense of responsibility, suggests the findings. Yet, almost three in ten employees would like to see a combination—both a four-day week and full flexibility citing reasons such as better work-life balance, improved productivity, and happiness.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
