Should more employers be looking at offering more flexible working options?

Increasingly, organisations are seeing the benefits of offering more flexible working options, in terms of productivity output, being able to attract a more diverse range of employees and employee satisfaction.

Stats NZ data shows that in 2023, 81% of organisations offered flexible working hours, up from 57% of organisations in 2018. In 2023, 77% of organisations offered part-time work roles, up from 53% in 2018.

Kiwibank economist, Sabrina Delgado, highlighted flexible work’s impact on the wider economy,

“Whether it’s working around school hours or the location of work, greater work flexibility perhaps has the biggest economic impact on improving the labour market outcomes and productivity.”

Infometrics chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen said,

“Increasing participation even further can be supported by removing barriers to work for different groups, like parents, while still allowing them to do their parental duties without as much compromise as before.”

Dr Ellen Ford, the creator of #workschoolhours movement, said,

“There are a huge amount of parents who would absolutely love to work in an organisation that provides a school hours framework and they would add immense value to the organisation.”

“One of the economic benefits is that it actually allows organisations to tap into a massively underutilised section of the workforce.”

“If businesses are struggling to attract and retain great talent, one of the ways they can do that is actually offer roles that work within school hours.”

“People on part time contracts are typically the most productive in the workforce. They just get their stuff done in a shorter amount of time.”

It seems like flexible work options are here to stay. An international survey of more than 500 CEO’s around hybrid working, found 91% had adopted hybrid working and 74% said a full-time office return is not a business priority. 73% of CEO’s agreed that hybrid work allows them to attract the best workers and 76% saw improved staff retention since offering flexibility to employees.

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