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.The survey shows that currently 37 percent of employers think all groups of employees want flexible working. This compares to 35 percent who think demand is coming mainly from parents and 23 percent who say it is mainly coming from mums.
However, although 38 percent think there has been no change in the groups asking for flexible working in the last year, 31 percent say they are getting more dads asking, 20 percent are getting more older workers and 29 percent are getting more non-parents.
The survey also suggests employers see flexible working as a key way to address skills shortages. 56 percent of employers say they are having trouble finding people with the right skills, with sectors such as construction particularly affected. Of those who have struggled to recruit people in the last year, 80 percent had trouble finding people with the right skills, while half had problems recruiting a more diverse workforce.
To reach a wider candidate base, many employers are making clear in their job adverts that they support flexible working. 62 percent already mention that they are open to flexible working in their job adverts and 71 percent say they intend to do so in the future.
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Flexible working is also a factor in recruiting a more diverse workforce. Nearly half – 48 percent of employers – have been actively trying to recruit more women in the last 12 months and 47 percent say they aim to actively recruit more women in the next 12 months. Employers are also looking at other sometimes overlooked pockets of the workforce, including older workers. 24 percent actively recruit older workers and 32 percent think they will need to actively recruit older workers in the future.