European rivals beat UK for flexible working

Only a fifth of UK firms support teleworking, compared with almost half in Germany

The belief that the UK has a more flexible workforce than its European counterparts is looking increasingly outdated as UK organisations lag behind their continental neighbours in adopting flexible and remote working practices.

That is the finding of a new report from the Cranfield School of Management, which surveyed 8,000 organisations and found that just a fifth of UK employers supported teleworking, compared with almost half in Germany and Sweden, 40 percent in Norway and 39 percent in Denmark. Meanwhile, less than half of UK firms offered flexitime to staff, compared with over 90 percent in Germany, Sweden and Finland, and under a third supported home-working.

Dr Emma Parry of the Cranfield School of Management said the results challenged the widely held perception that the UK enjoys more flexible labour practices than the rest of Europe. “Some firms are still just paying lip service to flexible working,” she said. “Culturally, many people are still in the mindset that employees should work nine to five in the office.”

Experts have long argued that failure to deploy mobile technologies to better enable remote and home working can harm firms’ productivity. Repeated studies have found that remote workers tend to work more hours than their office-bound colleagues.

Parry added that in areas where the UK labour market is getting tighter, companies could offer flexible working to attract more good candidates and encourage more people back to work.

“Flexibility encourages people like women and the elderly back into the workforce and as the population ages it will become more important,” Parry said. “Organisations that have embraced these practices do see the benefits.”