Today’s employees have one thing on their minds: flexibility.
With traffic increasing, work hours rising, and vacation day usage decreasing, the one thing employees seek flexibility.
Two out of three candidates today don’t think they must be sitting at their desks to be productive and do their job, according to ManpowerGroup Solutions’ Global Candidate Preference Survey.
Manpower’s survey revealed expectations about when to be in the office and the independence to decide whether to work from home or the office matter most to today’s candidates.
One-fourth of global candidates rate office hour departure and arrival times as the most important. Employees are seeking flexible start and departure times, according to the survey results.
The ability to work outside the traditional office environment is a close second, with 22% of survey participants ranking the ability to make this decision independently as a top priority.
According to the Manpower report, the desire for more flexibility is a result of many factors, including heavy traffic and public transportation, which can affect commute times.
Employee commutes are stressful and rated by 1,000 women as the least satisfying of all daily activities (See 2004 study on daily well-being) below housework and working.
Here are Manpower Group’s survey findings:
21% flexible work hours
26% want to work from home full time
18% would like to have a choice of shifts
9% prefer to work part-time from home
11% condensed work week for example Tuesday-Friday 10-hour days
4% desire a career break or sabbatical
2% leave of absence for caregiving
8% desire unlimited PTO
Note: The 13,961 survey participants were between 18-65 and currently working with 1,384 respondents from the United States.
References
Marlynn Wei M.D., J.D, Commuting: “The Stress that Doesn’t Pay” Psychology Today, January 12, 2015
Nearly 40% cite Schedule Flexibility as Top Factor in Career Choice, ManpowerGroup Solution says, Daily News, July 19, 2017
