Eight out of 10 (79%) people searching for part time or flexible jobs felt the employment market is ‘broken’ for them, according to research from Timewise.
Timewise’s annual Flexible Jobs Index highlights that only 8.7% of FTE (full-time equivalent) job vacancies with salaries of £20,000 per year or more offer some degree of flexibility. The report suggests this leaves people such as parents, carers and people with disabilities effectively locked out from decently-paid roles and fulfilling careers.
In response Timewise has launched ‘Hire Me My Way’; a campaign aiming to get hundreds of Britain’s biggest employers to make more of their roles flexible at point of hire.
Lynn Rattigan, chief operating officer at EY, UK & Ireland, said EY is backing the campaign. “The needs of the UK’s workforce are changing rapidly and employers need to keep up; not only to support their own business growth but also the competitiveness of the UK economy,” she said. “There is a huge pool of experienced and highly skilled talent that companies are missing out on simply because they fail to mention from the outset on their job advertisements that they are open to flexibility.”
Timewise co-founder & joint CEO Karen Mattison said that the modern idea of work has changed, with half of the UK workforce now working flexibly. “The problem is that how we advertise jobs simply hasn’t caught up, leaving people who need a flexible or part-time job completely confused and stuck,” she said. “Now it’s time for UK businesses to respond to what candidates want: if you are open to hiring someone flexibly say so at the point of recruitment. Join Hire Me My Way and make yourself known directly to the people who want to work for you.”
