News & Insights

Poll: Over half of UK parents would consider leaving their job if they found another one that offered better flexibility

By Fiona Frudd 10.10.2022
Poll: Over half of UK parents would consider leaving their job if they found another one that offered better flexibility

A new YouGov poll commissioned by Working Families and SF Recruitment underscores the impact and importance of employers prioritising flexible working as part of their recruitment strategy. Launched to mark the start of National Work Life Week (10-14 October) [1], the poll of 992 parents across the UK demonstrates that advertising all vacant roles with flexible options stated by default widens the talent pool for employers and unlocks opportunities for parents.

Our research found that:

“Our belief in Flexible Working as a route to unlocking high-performance runs deep. We launched our Flex for Success campaign earlier this year because flexible working has been proven to enhance not only an individual's performance and success, but also to drive business performance. For us flexibility is not just about when and where people work, but about trust and empowerment to be autonomous in their work. When individuals have a sense of agency, they feel more engaged, more efficient, and more innovative and this in turn drives a high-performance culture. This is something we have experienced first-hand here at SF Recruitment, and we feel so strongly about the benefits that flexibility can bring, we have committed to helping raise awareness of the improved productivity, increased well-being and business success that come with it!” Saira Demmer, CEO, SF Recruitment.

Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families, said: “This research demonstrates that flexible working is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have. Flexibility is a top priority for parents in the UK, and if employers want to stay competitive, it’s vital that they start to examine the ways that each of their roles can be done flexibly, and advertise them as such. Our polling clearly shows that recruiting flexibly has a massive positive impact on talent attraction and retention. And with the current cost-of-living crisis putting so many families into financial jeopardy, offering flexible roles at the point of recruitment opens opportunities to those who have caring responsibilities but who desperately need additional income. Recruiting in this way is good for people, and good for business.”

Working Families is the UK’s national charity for working parents and carers. Its mission is to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. They provide free legal advice to parents and carers on their rights at work. They give employers the tools they need to support their employees while creating a flexible, high-performing workforce. And they advocate on behalf of the UK’s 13 million working parents, influencing policy through campaigns informed by ground-breaking research.

 

[1] National Work Life Week is an annual, national campaign to get both employers and employees talking about wellbeing at work and work-life fit. It’s run by Working Families, the UK’s national charity for working parents and carers, in partnership with SF Recruitment for 2022. This year, the  focus is on increasing access to flexible working, and finding the flex in every role, which is more important than ever given the current cost-of-living crisis.

Fiona Frudd
Fiona Frudd Senior Marketing & Communications Executive