Organisations in Jersey should drop the 9-5 and develop more flexible working patterns for employees if they want to retain talent and attract millennials and Generation Z workers.
So says a survey by recruitment consultancy Kendrick Rose, which found that 86% of workers think their employer should drop 9-5 working.
Some 97% of people surveyed said they would be more likely to stay in a role for longer if their employer gave them more flexibility, with 35% saying remote working or working from home would be the most significant thing their company could do to help them enjoy their job more.
This came ahead of improving employees’ work-life balance (32%), increasing salaries (18%), upgrading the office environment (8%) and investing in new technologies (7%).
Self-employment option
Flexible working is such an important issue for Jersey workers that 74% of those surveyed would be prepared to consider going freelance or becoming self-employed to ensure this. And 20% of these would be prepared to leave their job and go freelance even if it meant risking lower pay and benefits.
However, appetite for freelance work varies greatly across professions – 89% of marketing and media workers would be prepared to work for themselves, compared with 58% of those in the public sector.
People in HR and recruitment are least likely to opt for freelance work, with 33% saying it wouldn’t suit them in terms of personality or lifestyle, while 17% of finance workers wouldn’t consider going it alone because it wouldn’t suit their career.
Freelance work is less tempting for people who are not in managerial roles. Of those not in managerial roles, 26% said freelancing wouldn’t suit their lifestyle or personality, while 14% didn’t think it would suit their career.
Finance overtime
According to the survey, finance workers put in the most hours of unpaid overtime, with 39% occasionally working unpaid overtime if required, compared with a cross-profession average of 21%.
In the finance sector, 44% said they work at least one extra hour a day (36% cross-profession average), with 24% (16% cross-profession average) admitting they work too many extra hours to bother counting – the highest proportion for any profession surveyed.
Shelley Kendrick (pictured), Managing Director of Kendrick Rose, said: “9-5 is no longer the reality for many workers in Jersey – either due to more varied working times or unpaid overtime that extends the working day.
“A traditional 9-5 working day may remain the model for many firms, but those open to more flexible working patterns and prepared to embrace a mixture of freelance workers and employees will have their pick of the best talent.”
The Kendrick Rose Autumn Survey also found that choosing your own hours is more achievable for people in Jersey the further their careers have progressed.
Some 34% of people in senior roles agreed they have more scope to choose their own hours compared with 18% who find it harder to choose their own hours the more senior they become. The greatest level of flexibility for more senior roles came in law, professional services and finance.
Global comparisons
The Jersey survey results tie in with global trends. According to Mercer’s 2019 Global Trends Report, 82% of workers surveyed around the world would be willing to consider working on a freelance basis, while 79% of executives believe freelancers will substantially replace full-time workers over the next few years.
Figures from IPSE: the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed show freelancers make up 6% of the UK workforce, although numbers are rising fastest among specific demographics.
The number of female freelancers in the UK has grown 55% since 2008, with an increase of 79% for new mothers, while the number of freelancers aged 26-29 (millennials) has grown by 66% since 2008.