More than two years after the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, working arrangements are continuing to evolve.
During that time, working from home became the norm for many, but as we emerged from the pandemic, the demand for fully remote roles rose 18 per cent in July this year compared to June.
According to Flexa Careers’ Flexible Working Index, and with employers struggling to fill positions, 84 per cent of new vacancies posted on the site were for fully remote jobs, the biggest rise so far this year.
Demand for part-time roles has been consistently high.
The data comes after a previous survey suggested people were still fearful about asking for flexible working when going after a job.
The Business in the Community (BITC) data has revealed that even after two years of remote working, a poll of 2,500 working adults found that 50 per cent said they would be uncomfortable asking to work flexibly when applying for a job, while 43 per cent said there is still a stigma about asking for flexible options.
Flexible working arrangements could include:
- Changing from full-time to part-time work
- Changing the part-time hours that you work, for example from weekends to weekdays
- A change in hours to fit in with school hours or care arrangements
- Adopting flexitime, which allows you to fit your working hours around agreed core times
- Working from home or remotely for part or all of the time
- Job sharing.
The Flexa Careers’ Flexible Working Index, taken between January
and July this year, found people’s preference for part-time roles rose by 257
per cent.
Factors affecting this include the cost of living crisis and the rising cost of
childcare.
The survey found demand for compressed hours, where people work their usual
hours in fewer days, fell by 20 per cent in July compared with June.
Four-day week trial
There was also a 14 per cent uplift in preference for a
shorter working week compared with May, which coincided with the start of the
UK’s four-day week trial in June.
Molly Johnson-Jones, co-founder and CEO of Flexa Careers, said: “Ways of
working are constantly evolving, and calls for flexibility in different forms
have grown exponentially over the past couple of years.
“This means it can be hard for companies to keep up and attract the masses of
talent who
want to work flexibly.”
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