A growing number of business leaders are embracing ‘flexible working’ as a tactic to boost efficiency while cutting costs. A letter to the Daily Telegraph, signed by 22 of the country’s biggest business leaders, claims that the UK could grow into a more efficient economy by embracing flexible working practices.
The bosses, which include BT chief executive Ian Livingston and Mark Ovenden, the chairman of Ford Motor Company, belong to the Agile Future Forum – a new group dedicated to ‘revolutionising UK working practices.’ The group argues that flexible working arrangements are beneficial to employers, employees, and the economy.
Flexible working arrangements, which can include less structured working patterns and flexible hours for employees, have previously been branded as beneficial for the company’s staff but less beneficial for employers. The business leaders argue that an effective flexible working policy can benefit every aspect of the country’s companies.
Several large UK-based companies have reduced their expenses by giving employees more freedom over their schedules and work environments. KPMG, a top accounting firm, claims that it reduced its expenses by £4.7 million by allowing its employees to dictate their own working hours during the recent economic recession.
Other companies, particularly those in the digital sector, have taken a very flexible approach to staffing and work conditions. Many of the country’s largest technology companies allow their staff to work remotely in order to reduce office spending and improve efficiency.
Despite the benefits of flexible working, not all companies are on board. Yahoo, one of the largest Internet advertising companies, controversially forced all of its remote staff to commute to work in a recent policy update. Other US-based tech companies have stated that Yahoo’s policy could influence their future hiring decisions.
