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Want to vote to take control of your work/life Balance? gdb Members Flexibility Matters have some advice!

With the UK's exit from the EU facing further delays, the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations is affecting the whole country, with many putting their life plans on hold until a decision is made.

At Flexibility Matters, however, we believe there's no reason to wait to get on with your life. It's important to continue to go for what you want, whether that's fitting your work around your lifestyle, reducing your commute or increasing the amount of time you spend with your family rather than work. Dedicated to flexible recruiting, we have some super helpful ways to get started both for businesses and candidates, as well as some current flexible work opportunities.

In the meantime, it seems that we're not alone in our commitment to a flexible approach to work. There are a growing number of voices that see flexible working as a way of boosting the UK's productivity, as a solution to rising stress and health problems, and even as a response to increasing levels of automation.

The UK's trade union body 'The TUC', wants businesses to cut the standard working week from five days to just four (same pay), arguing that advancements in technology, which appear to keep us at our desks longer, should in fact be helping us all to work less. Jeremy Corbyn even put it in his 2017 general election manifesto. A handful of UK businesses are successfully adopting the four-day week, dubbed by some, including 'The TUC', as the answer to Britain's "productivity problems".

 

UK PR Company, 'Radioactive PR' introduced a company-wide four-day week as a six-week trial last year and, finding that they achieved just as much with signs of growth, have adopted it fully. The extra day off has meant that annual leave has been cut by 20% and lunch breaks cut down to 45 minutes, yet staff are happier and more productive.

 

'Normally', a data product and design studio based in London, adopted the four-day working week the day it was founded in 2014. It's a "non-negotiable" principle of the company and they have found that having this balance fosters a happier, healthier and more productive team which has significantly improved the quality of their work.

Some leading companies in major industries are actively changing policies in other ways in order to attract the right talent:

Major player, 'Volvo Cars', are giving six months paid parental leave to ALL employees. The piloted scheme will give all sales company employees in Europe, the Middle East and Africa six months' leave on 80 percent pay. "The winners in this battle for talent will be companies that value diversity, modern and flexible working practices, and employee well-being" Volvo says.

Travelodge, in response to a potential post-Brexit Britain, have been focusing their recruitment efforts on the untapped potential in parents that want to return to work, but who have reported the scarcity of jobs with flexibility around the school run as their biggest challenge.

Dedicated to flexible recruiting and best practice in flexible working, the team at Flexibility Matters seek to find professionals roles in companies that understand that outstanding skills and talents may be sourced outside the normal 9 to 5. If you're a professional looking for a flexible career role or a company looking to recruit flexibly, get in touch. For our latest roles, more on who we are, details of how to sign up, flexible working advice and more: www.flexibilitymatters.co.uk

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