Tech workers ‘the most likely to work flexi hours and remotely’

The tech industry has the most number of employees taking advantage of flexi hours and remote working, according to new research.

A report from family-friendly employer solutions provider My Family Care and global recruitment experts Hydrogen shows that 81% of employees who work in tech say they work flexibly to some degree – 15% higher than the average of 66%. Moreover, over half of the 265 people surveyed said they worked remotely at least one day last week – 18% higher than the overall average.

The research also revealed how much people who work in tech value flexible working when considering a job offer, with 88% of professionals considering it to be more important than other benefits like private healthcare insurance, enhanced pension scheme or commission or bonuses.

Similarly almost two thirds (60%) said they would rather have flexible working in lieu of a 5% salary increase and half said they would trade a 10% salary rise for flexible working.

However, only 51% of employees were aware of flexible working options before they started their job and 21% of those who work in tech are still not confident about approaching their employers to discuss flexible working.

Richard Stevenson, manager of the Technology practice at Hydrogen, says: “Despite the fact that many tech companies enable their staff to work flexibly, it’s actually quite rare that they want to advertise this when they’re hiring which means they’re really missing a trick.  We find that the onus tends to be on the job seeker to ask about flexible working practices, rather than the employer actively promoting it which could of course set them apart from one of their competitors in the battle for talent.  While the tech sector is clearly leading the way when it comes to flexible working, there is still so much employers can do to really fully benefit.”

My Family Care and Hydrogen have created a full report entitled ‘Flexible and family friendly working: a competitive advantage for organisations. UK sector snapshot: Technology.’  To download please click here.

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