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SMEs 'must offer workers flexible working practices'

Published On 4 May 2007 at 09:04:36

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to offer their staff flexible working practices or risk losing them, a new report suggests.

According to data released by Microsoft, 73 per cent of people think that the ability to have flexible working practices is a deciding factor when considering various job offers.

Over half (52 percent) thought that that ability to work more flexibly would lead to less stress in their work.

However, the study also revealed that many people thought that a request for more flexible work would be viewed negatively by their employers - a quarter of people aged between 16 and 24 held this view.

"There appears to remain a north-south divide in terms of attitudes towards mobile working," explained Alex Reeve, the UK director for Microsoft Mobile Communications Business.

"If British businesses are to address the productivity gap between themselves and the leading Western economies, these challenges must be solved."

However, a recent study from the British Chamber of Commerce found that around 90 per cent of businesses already offer their staff some form of flexible working practice.

 

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