Nearly three-quarters of UK job vacancies make no reference to flexible working possibilities, despite the hiring crisis, says social business and flexible working expert, Timewise.

At present, job vacancies are at their highest level since official records began in 2001 – yet the portion of jobs offering flexible options has grown by just four percentage points from 2020, representing a huge missed opportunity to recruit by employers. At present, half of the UK’s employees work flexibly in some form and nine in ten people say they want flexibility in their next job. Just over one in four UK jobs are advertised with flexible working options (26%), meaning that people who need flexibility effectively cannot apply for three out of every four vacancies on the market.

Timewise has produced an annual snapshot of the UK labour market since 2015, to see if the portion of jobs advertised with flexible options is rising, what kind of jobs are being offered with flexibility and at what kind of salary level.

Vacancies are filtered using 17 keywords relating to different forms of flexible working, for example ‘remote working’, ‘home working’ and ‘part-time’.

Other key findings from the report, Flexible Jobs Index 2021, include:

• Part-time work is the preferred working pattern for 20% of UK employees, but is offered in just 10% of job adverts.
• Home or remote working mentions are surprisingly low – they currently only appear in 8% of job ads. This figure has actually reduced slightly in the period since lockdown restrictions were lifted in April 2021 (from 10% during the January-April lockdown).
• There are disparities in how flexible working is offered across salary levels. This causes blocks in career progression for anyone who cannot work full-time in an office.
• Part-time work and low pay are still synonymous – 19% of low paid jobs (up to £20k FTE) mention part-time possibilities. This is the highest ratio of any salary band.
• Conversely, homeworking and flexible working are disproportionately offered at higher salary levels (14% and 10% respectively) and are rarely seen in low-paid vacancies.

Timewise co-founder, Emma Stewart MBE, comments:

“The way that employers are advertising jobs ignores the biggest shake-up of work seen in a generation. We know that candidates do not want to raise the question; we believe they shouldn’t have to. In the post-pandemic, post-Brexit employment market, where vacancies far outstrip candidate supply, thousands of skilled candidates won’t move until they see that a job clearly offers flexible working from day one. With more than three million people still economically inactive due to caring or health reasons, employers are missing out on attracting a wider pool of talent they desperately need.”

Allowing people flexibility over the hours they work, and where they work, is increasingly popular. By working flexibly, employees are better able to manage their caring responsibilities, or achieve a better work–life balance. Employers benefit by saving on office space and overheads. Flexible working also allows a better match between business resources and demand, such as serving customers on a 24/7 basis.

Lynn Rattigan, Chief Operating Officer at EY, says:

“Timewise’s latest research shows that UK businesses have a real opportunity to attract sought-after talent, particularly at a time when vacancies are at their highest. EY has championed flexible working for many years and all of our vacancies in the UK are advertised as being open to flexibility. The experience of the pandemic has also brought new perspectives and, like many organisations, we’ve been assessing the impact of changing work patterns on how, when and where our people work. That’s why we have introduced a new hybrid working model, enabling our people to split their time between their home, office and client site as appropriate. We believe this will maximise the benefits of both in-person collaboration and flexible remote working for our people and clients.”

Danny Harmer, Chief People Officer, Aviva, says:

“Offering flexible roles is essential to attract the very best, and most diverse, workforce so it’s good business sense. Flexible roles also support people with life’s changing demands so they can contribute, for example, to their families and communities while progressing their careers, which is great for society too.”

Fiona Cannon, Group Sustainable Business Director, Lloyds Banking Group, says:

“At Lloyds Banking Group, we have taken a proactive approach to agile working and recruitment for many years now and over 93% of our jobs offer a flexible option. The pandemic has accelerated our progress to become a more agile, collaborative, and inclusive organisation. This is helping us to attract new and diverse talent, which will help us to meet the changing needs of our customers.”