This report from the University of Birmingham Business School and the University of York explores four key areas of change since the pandemic: managers' changing attitudes towards flexible working since the start of the pandemic; managers' future intentions in terms of support for flexible working; changes in spatial flexibility and use of office space; and changes around consultation and surveillance in the workplace.
As businesses adapt to new workplace norms and working practices, managers’ experiences during COVID-19 have made them more likely to support a move to flexible working in the future, including part-time working and job sharing, as a way to increase productivity - a new report reveals.
The latest annual report from researchers at the University of Birmingham Business School and the University of York into flexible working is based on data collected in summer 2022 from 597 managers across the UK and builds on previous reports exploring changes to flexible working and working norms since the pandemic.
The report focuses on issues such as managers’ attitudes towards and intentions regarding flexible working since the pandemic, with key findings including:
8% of managers agree working from home improves employee concentration; with a further 59.5% agreeing it increases productivity; and a further 62.8% agreeing it increases motivation
7% agreed that compressed hours increase productivity; 44.1% that part-time working increases productivity; while 33.2% thought the same about job share
Pre-pandemic (pre-2020) 43.3% of managers believed long hours were needed for employees to advance in the organisation. During the lockdowns, this decreased to 38.7% (2020) and 35.2% (2021). Now, 41.9% believe that in order to advance in the organisation employees need to work long hours
Most staff are using flexible working policies informally, particularly for working from home (45.1% of managers reported the majority of employees are working this way) and flexitime (36.5%), but also for part-time working, compressed hours and job shares
Most managers believe job advertisements should include the availability of flexible working (93.5%) making them more attractive to potential applicants (90.5%)