Businesses with flexible working more likely to attract top talent

UK businesses that offer flexible working to employees are more likely to attract and retain “better candidates”, according to survey results from UC EXPO.

Surveying 1,000 UK office workers, the research found that 82% of employees would choose to take a job that offered flexible working benefits over one that didn’t.

A vast number of employees that already worked at home or remotely said it had increased their happiness and job satisfaction (27%) while 90% said flexible working had helped them maintain a better work/life balance. 67% also said that they felt their productivity levels had actually increased or stayed the same while working from home.

While workers have the legal right to request flexible working from their employer, 39% of the workers surveyed said they were not aware of this right.

The survey results follows recent data which indicated that small business flexible working adoption is at an all time high.

Bradley Maule-ffinch, director of strategy for UC EXPO, said:  “With a growing workforce of digital natives – not to mention multiple obstacles such as travel strikes in cities such as London – it’s not surprising that people favour a flexible approach to their work.

“Employers need to keep up with their staff’s technology and working preferences in order to retain them.”