Flexible working options are no longer regarded as an added benefit

Summary

STEM employers will need to offer the flexible working options that candidates consider a standard requirement of employment, rather than as an added benefit, in order to secure the right talent. Even with higher salaries on the table, competition for the best candidates remains fierce. A bold tick in the salary box alone will not of itself assure that a job offer is accepted.

It’s often assumed that the rise of flexible working is linked to remote working models most organisations adopted during the lockdowns imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, many had already been gradually, and cautiously, transitioning towards flexible working models for some time before 2020.*

The pandemic has consolidated workforce interest in flexible working. Many workers, previously nervous to take the plunge for fear of giving the impression that they were not fully committed to their jobs, experienced its appeal for the first time. There is plenty of evidence of the growth in popularity of flexible working among workforces, however, as recent studies from Forbes, Microsoft and People Management have shown.

Asked what will be most important to them when searching for new roles, 54% (2,709) of STEM Survey respondents rate flexible working options as second only to payments/benefits (Figure 3). There is some indication (Figure 5) that candidates’ preference between working remotely and the office is influenced by the nature of the job.

^{*In many countries all full-time staff have had the legal right to request flexible working from their employers, who must explain why any requests are not allowed.}  

Flexible attitudes

As mentioned in the Salary and Benefits section, in some countries flexible working options were rated higher than salaries/benefits as the most important factor when respondents were searching for new roles, but often with narrow margins of difference – for example, Austria (61% to 59%) and the UK (64% to 61%). In Spain they were rated as of equal importance (69% to 69%).

“While the pandemic clearly influenced uptake of flexible working, it has not changed its essential meaning,” says SThree CEO Timo Lehne. “However, the pandemic has elevated employees’ consideration of flexible working as it applies to them, and therefore its importance in the recruitment process.”