9-to-5 in decline as more workers embrace flexible options

Flexibility and being able to balance work with family and leisure time are becoming prized job benefits in the British workplace, with employers eager to offer more tailor-made, flexible working to secure and retain loyal employees.

The latest Work-Life Balance Employer Survey finds 95 percent of workplaces offer some form of flexible working for staff.

The amount of workplaces providing childcare facilities, or other arrangements to help parents combine work with family commitments, has more than doubled since 2003, from 8% to 18%.

Recent research also shows more men than ever are keen to work flexibly, making up 43% of employees who requested a change to working patterns in the past two years.

"More people want to balance work with family and lifestyle and more employers are increasingly recognising that flexibility helps retain good staff."

It has been estimated that employers could save 42 million pounds per year in recruitment costs for flexible working parents of children and 3 million per year for carers.

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12 Dec 2007