Search Results for: working parents

Is flexible working the answer to improved employee mental health and productivity?

Is flexible working the answer to improved employee mental health and productivity?

flexible workingOne of Labour’s flagship policies for its 2019 general election campaign was to introduce a four-day week. More accurately, its policy is to introduce a 32-hour week. This brought flexible working again into the media spotlight. Research suggests that flexible working and reduced hours can have multiple benefits, including improved mental health and greater productivity. More →

Employers still not fully embracing flexible working

Employers still not fully embracing flexible working

flexible workingEmployers aren’t doing enough to help their employees to work flexibly, according to a survey by Tiger Recruitment, which has found that a third of UK workers questioned (32 percent) aren’t happy with the flexible working options available to them. The study of over 2,000 employees claims that only a third have the option of home or remote working – a seven percentage point drop since last year – while only one in five (22 percent) are offered the option of flexi-time, and even fewer have access to informal flexibility (19 percent) or the opportunity to go part-time (18 percent). More →

Nearly half of employers need help to implement flexible working

Nearly half of employers need help to implement flexible working

Eighty five percent of employers think demand for flexible working is likely to increase, with demand coming from across the board, but over four in 10 would like more support to implement it, according to a workingmums.co.uk survey. The results of the survey of around 200 employers are interesting in light of current policy discussions about flexible working which tend to focus on forcing employers to flex more by advertising jobs that are flexible from day one and enforcing employees’ flexible working rights. More →

Remote working key to winning the battle for talent

Remote working key to winning the battle for talent

remote workingAccording to a new study conducted by the Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr) with support from Citrix Systems, Inc., companies that leverage technology to enable flexible and remote working models can not only attract talent, but increase employee engagement and productivity, potentially boosting the US economy by as much as $2.36 trillion a year. Through an online survey of more than 2,500 US knowledge workers conducted in July, the Cebr study sought to determine the potential value to the US economy of the adoption of a more widespread, flexible working culture. It claims that in offering virtual/remote work options and providing the tools to enable them, companies can better compete in the battle for talent by dipping into untapped pools of workers. More →

The push and pull of the workplace for parents

The push and pull of the workplace for parents

working parentsThe experiences and attitudes of working parents are explored in two new reports which offer contrasting views on what happens to the careers and skills of mothers and fathers. The first from CWJobs uncovers the fears parents have of being left behind by technology while they take time away from their careers to care for children, while the second looks at the ways in which parenthood might improve people’s skills and ability to deal with complex roles. More →

Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

Father and son walk on beach showing need for flexible workingMen feel frustrated in their jobs and discriminated against at work and want a better balance between work and family life in much the same way as women, according to the results of the annual survey by workingdads and workingmums. One in four dads said they’d had time off work due to mental illness, with a third of those citing the stress of work and home. Around half of working dads said their career had stalled since they became a father. Almost 70 percent admitted they feel stuck in their current role because they fear they wouldn’t be able to find another job with the amount of flexible working they need. More →

Companies should publish their flexible working policies 

Companies should publish their flexible working policies 

flexible working and family lifeNew figures from work-life balance charity Working Families suggests that both parents/carers and best-practice employers alike are overwhelmingly in favour of greater transparency around companies’ flexible working and family-related leave and pay policies. Over 700 parents and carers and 74 Working Families employer members were surveyed.

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Organisations must meet needs of young parents or risk failure

Organisations must meet needs of young parents or risk failure

Organisations face a problem that could impact their very survival. Parents want to be supported by their employers during the transition to becoming working parents, but organisations are currently ill-equipped to deal with parental leave, or to keep people engaged throughout it. In a world of relentless change, companies failing to react to and meet the expectations of this part of their workforce risk disaster. More →

Working mums feel trapped by lack of flexible working

Working mums feel trapped by lack of flexible working

mothers feel trapped by lack of flexible workingDespite the fact that all UK employees have the right by law to request flexible working options once they have been at a company for 26 weeks, more than three-quarters of working mothers feel trapped in their current job because they worry about finding another with enough flexibility, a new survey from workingmums.co.uk claims.  In the poll of more than 2,000 parents , 80 percent of mothers said they felt stuck in their current role because they didn’t feel confident they would find another one with the amount of flexibility they needed. The majority of mothers (57 percent) said their career had not progressed since they had children. More →

Working mums call for more flexible work options

Working mums call for more flexible work options

Women are a key part of a growing contingent workforce of freelancers, consultants and part-timers. Despite numerous government policies to attract more mothers back into the workplace, retention is still a significant struggle. Several data collected indicates working mums who return part-time, combining professional careers with raising a family, are increasingly frustrated.  The research shows that the modern workplace often fails to cater for the needs of mothers and carers as they face the pressures of combining busy working lives with lifestyle and family obligations.

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Younger workers believe flexible working is essential for mental health

Younger workers believe flexible working is essential for mental health

A young woman enjoys flexible working in a cafeNearly 40 percent of people under the age of 45 who have flexible working believe it has offered marked improvements in their mental health, a survey from Wildgoose claims. The firm conducted a survey of the workers to ask for their thoughts on working culture and the impact it has on a range of life outcomes. Employees from 114 companies from all backgrounds gave their answers anonymously. According to the study, the results highlight the reasons employees are looking for jobs that offer a degree of flexibility in terms of times and places of work. More →

The tipping point for flexible working arrives

The tipping point for flexible working arrives

Although people have been talking about flexible working in one way or another for decades – the economist John Maynard Keynes declared in 1930 that technological advances would lead to a 15-hour working week – we may now be at the tipping point where work takes on an entirely different character. More →