Flexible working or I quit

Employers have the technology to support flexible working practices, but lack the desire

Parents can benefit from flexible working options

Research commissioned by communications firm Avaya said 31 per cent of European employees would consider resigning if their employers do not provide flexible working opportunities.

Staff believe they are not being offered flexible working options despite employers have the technical ability to do so.

And while the UK is ahead of other European countries in offering flexible options, only 22 per cent of companies provide employees with any practical or technical assistance in setting up their remote offices.

Over a third (35 per cent) of European employees working for companies that do not offer flexible working believe their employer has the technology to make it happen but has chosen not to use it.

The research questioned 3,000 employees across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia. It defined flexible working as any situation in which employees were not expected to work during set hours or from their desks, but could set their own flexible working hours and work from the location they chose.

Other findings suggest that 30 per cent of senior managers felt allowing flexible working increased their company’s global competitiveness, with larger corporates (74 per cent) more likely to offer flexible working than SMEs (57 per cent).

Avaya is keen for companies to buy its IP telephony communications products to support remote workers, and has sponsored a number of previous surveys designed to identify patterns in flexible working arrangements.