UK graduates expect less flexibility from their working lives than those starting careers in China and the US, a global survey has revealed.
The poll of 3,000 graduates at consultancy PriceÂwaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that those from the UK had the lowest flexible-working expectations.
About 7% of Chinese new starters believed they would work mainly from home during their careers, compared to less than 1% in the UK. Overall, 75% of respondents expected to work regular office hours, with the UK riding high at 82.5%.
The report, Managing Tomorrow’s People: The Future of Work to 2020, published this week, gives a snapshot of the future workforce that, it claims, organisations must adjust to.
Michael Rendell, partner at PwC, said: “The resources that big companies will be competing for most of all in the future are people with the right skills. But there is a worrying lack of board-level thinking on how this challenge is to be met, especially given the dramatically changing expectations of the future workforce.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
In the report, Michael Poulten, international reward manager at retail giant Tesco, said the workforce of tomorrow required managing in a new way.
“[HR professionals] will need to prepare for a significantly more mobile generation with differing expectations of its employer. We will need to adapt.”
