The number of flexible working roles being advertised in the UK has surged over the past year, while searches for fully-remote or remote-first work have risen as some organisations insist on a return to offices.
Sixty-two per cent more flexible jobs were advertised in January to March 2024 compared with the same period last year, according to data drawn from analysis of job posts and search data by flexible jobs platform Flexa.
The increase in flexible working jobs came ahead of the introduction of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which took effect this month and allows employees to make a flexible working request from day-one of their job.
Remote-first and flexible working
Don’t be so hasty to enforce return-to-office policies
Thirty-two per cent more flexible jobs were posted in the first quarter of this year compared with the previous quarter, Flexa found.
While major employers including Boots and EY are insisting on a return to offices, the Flexible Woking Index found significant demand for remote working, albeit the number of remote-first roles has declined since the start of the year. In January 43% of roles were advertised as remote-first, but by March this had dropped to 31%.
Some of the most prominent employers currently offering remote-first working opportunities include TUI Group, Blood Cancer UK and WeTransfer.
Demand for remote working was high among jobseekers. Half of candidates searched for fully remote roles, with the number of job searches for this type of work increasing by 11 percentage points between January and March, while 42% were searching for remote-first opportunities.
However, “work from anywhere” schemes appear to be falling out of favour, with the proportion of candidates searching for these falling from 33% to 24% between January and March.
Flexa CEO Molly Johnson-Jones said: “The employer-led labour market and RTO-era is shining a light on what employees really want. And while many are willing to let more novel forms of flexibility slide (including “work from anywhere” schemes and unlimited annual leave), job seekers’ non-negotiable criteria for new roles is telling.
“Employees are right to hold out for core flexible working benefits (like fully remote and remote-first roles, and enhanced parental leave) that they won’t compromise on. The alternative risks employers and employees losing out if individuals find themselves in roles that don’t offer the working environments they need to be happy and productive. Many employers already know this. It’s because of these true flexible working champions that the future is still bright for flexible job hunters, and that flexible job vacancies are continuing to grow in number in spite of wider market forces.”
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Flexa’s analysis looked at more than 4,000 job adverts and 840,000 job searches, as well as the preferences of more than 8,500 jobseekers.
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