Young Londoners most likely to consider flexible working, research finds

Research from conference calling specialists Powwownow has found that 18 to 24-year-olds in London are the most likely to consider flexible working (85 per cent).

The company’s survey of 2,000 working professionals found that business leaders in London allow their staff to have a total of three hours and 31 minutes away from the office a week, compared to the average time of two hours and 34 minutes in the rest of the UK.

Skills

The survey found that many of the young people who are most likely to find flexible working the main attraction of a job are graduates with desirable skills such as digital or cyber security. However, younger people were found to be less likely to be offered flexible working, with 53 per cent not receiving it in the workplace, compared to 33 per cent of 35 to 44-year-olds.

The research also highlighted the benefits of flexible working, with 60 per cent of respondents believing that being offered it would help them to be more productive and work smarter, whilst 53 per cent think that it would have a positive impact on their relationship with their colleagues.

Different

Powwownow Managing Director Jason Downes commented that businesses in the UK are starting to wake up to the fact that the brightest British talent expects different things from their employers compared to a decade ago – namely flexible working and being graded on output rather than time spent in the office.