Firms have become more open to part-time work since the pandemic, a new survey has revealed.
Research by Cranfield and CBI Economics for the report, The future of flexible working: Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic , shows that employers expect an increase in part-time, remote and flexible-working.
It is a change brought about by the big shift to home working during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the furlough scheme which allowed for a part-time furlough option.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) enabled organisations to reclaim up to 80% of the wage costs of employees who could not work during the pandemic.
The scheme may have ongoing benefits, according to the first wave of a survey conducted by Cranfield School of Management and CBI Economics which found increased employer openness to and knowledge of how to operate part-time working.
Anna Leach, Deputy Chief Economist at the CBI, said: “It is clear that the CJRS has been more than just a ‘bridge to the other side’. Both the scheme and the pandemic itself have fostered, even accelerated, large shifts in the nature of work and attitudes towards it.
“These findings show that changes in working practices, and attitudes towards them, are very much underway. It is particularly encouraging to see that this shift in attitudes is associated with positive financial situations for companies, with the majority of the organisational representatives surveyed reporting that the financial wellbeing of their organisation was good or very good, and expected to remain positive over the next two years at least. "
A ‘fundamental’ change in perceptions
Data from whole-organisation representatives and line managers in 208 UK businesses was collected in February this year and showed that the flexible furlough scheme – which enabled employers to bring staff back to work on a part-time basis and for them to be furloughed the remainder of the time – has impacted employers’ perceptions around working practices, increasing openness to part-time working and other forms of flexible working as viable options for their business.
Post-pandemic, 62% of line managers in the survey said they were ‘more willing’ to consider employee requests for part-time working and almost all (96%) said they were more flexible about where their employees worked, and 87% about how they scheduled their working hours.
Working less than full time
Part-time working is an important feature of any labour market, offering greater choice in working arrangements for employees and widening participation in employment for those unable to work full time. It also brings benefits for employers, helping them retain existing employees and attract new ones, and cover extended operating hours and periods of peak demand.
Pre-pandemic, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows just over a quarter (26%) of UK workers worked part time, some to meet their employer’s needs, and others to allow them to better balance their work with the requirements of their life outside employment.
Professor Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management, said that the flexible element of the furlough scheme effectively marked a ‘forced experiment’ in part-time working for many employers that had little previous experience of part-time working.
“As is always the case with any enforced situation, it can be a very different story when life returns to ‘normal’, but these survey findings suggest that the practical experience of trying out part-time working has helped to overcome some of the perceived barriers for employers around its feasibility and how to implement it in practice.
“This is heartening, because there is evidence to suggest that more people would like to work part-time than currently do, as well as explore options for greater flexibility in the way in which they work.”
