Flexible working currently contributes £37bn to the UK economy

New research, ‘Flexonomics: The economic and fiscal logic of flexible working’, highlights the economic benefits of flexible working to the UK economy. Flexonomics builds on our long-standing support of the Flex Appeal campaign by Anna Whitehouse, aka Mother Pukka, and follows the publication of our “Forever Flex: Making flexible working work beyond a crisis” report, published last year.

The aim of Flexonomics report is to showcase the benefits of flexible working to the UK economy, in addition to identifying the challenges and opportunities it presents. The report provides realistic policy recommendations to support increased levels of flexible working.

Key findings

Flex is more than just homeworking: The report highlights the key distinction between forced homeworking and flexible working, which it defines as any way of working that suits an employee’s needs, and can be split into four segments:

• Working patterns: this can consist of anything from part-time working through to annualised hours, flexitime, compressed hours or self-rostering.
• Workload: this includes reduced hours, job sharing, zero-hour contracts, phase retirement and commissioned outcomes.
• Workplace: offering employees the choice to work from the office, at home or both (‘hybrid’ working).
• Life events: broadly consisting of career breaks or shared parental leave.

Flexibility for all: In recognising that flexible working is more than homeworking, the report highlights how even the traditionally ‘hard-to-flex sectors’ can embrace flexibility. Construction workers, for example, can take advantage of self-rostering whilst those working in healthcare can swap mutually agreed predictable hours.

Regional possibility: With an expanded understanding of flexible working, the regional workforce has better access to a range of jobs across the country, in line with the Government’s Levelling Up scheme.

Ahead of the publication of the Government’s consultation into flexible working, the report also made a number of recommendations for delivering greater flex:

Ensure clarity on options in adverts: Though the Government is consulting on proposals for a ‘day one right to request flexibility’, this still requires new recruits to either know if such options are available and to have the confidence to ask. If all people who could apply are informed in advance, it widens the pool of potential employees for the advertising business

Increase data collection: As it stands, limited data is collected on flexible working. Increasing the data collected by the Office for National Statistics would help build a stronger evidence base and understanding of the benefits of all forms flexible working

Government to lead by example: The government should consider going further in communicating to businesses the benefits of flexible working, potentially adopting the working arrangement as the default for the civil service and government departments or publishing a list of flexible working employers.

Paul Hamer, Chief Executive of Sir Robert McAlpine, comments: “We have been supporting Flex Appeal because we believe that everyone has the right to a healthier work life balance and flexible working could help us alleviate the mental health crisis in construction.

The misconception that flexible working is only applicable to a select few sectors needs to change. Flexible working can refer to working patterns, workload or time spent in the workplace, and this report, one of the first of its kind, demonstrates the glaring benefit to the UK economy if adopted more widely. We hope it supports the Government in encouraging all manner of sectors to engage with the possibilities of flexible working.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The misconception that flexible working is only applicable to a select few sectors needs to change”[/perfectpullquote]

Anna Whitehouse, Founder Mother Pukka and Flex Appeal, comments: “Flexible working has never been about location, it’s always been about inclusion. It’s about including talent. Talent with caring responsibilities, talent living with disabilities. People who are looking to work in a human – or even humane – way that’s ultimately good for business. For the last six years, Flex Appeal has been lobbying the government, campaigning on the streets of London, Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol and Edinburgh. And now we can prove that it’s good for business. That there’s a direct link between flexibility and profitability. That an uptake in flexible working will boost the UK economy, too. If we want to ‘Build Back Better’, now is the time for businesses to use flexible working as the foundation.”

In September, we welcomed the Government’s consultation on flexible working, which we see as a step in the right direction for the UK workforce and businesses alike. We hope this briefing will provide further insights and evidence for Parliamentarians to use in their campaigning on the issue of flexible working.