But more than four in ten (43%) business leaders and senior managers say greater flex is being held back because of opposition from their own peers and senior colleagues. Today we’re encouraging any ‘doubting’ business leaders to stop dismissing flex and look at the evidence.

Our new research shows 71% of Scottish employers think flexible working is positive for their organisation, and 85% of Scottish workers either already work flexibly or would like to do so.

Our figures, based on polling data from 262 Scottish business leaders and senior managers as well as 1,016 Scottish workers, are the latest in a growing body of evidence about the positive impact of flexible working, which we encourage business leaders to take seriously.

New findings

According to our new data, flexible working continues to rise in Scotland with 67% of workers saying they work flexibly, up from 61% last year, and 46% pre-pandemic.

Our data shows Scottish employers recognise many business benefits from offering flexible working. This includes that flex has:

• 75% – helped us retain good staff
• 71% – reduced staff sickness and absence
• 66% – encouraged staff to above and beyond their role
• 64% – enabled them to increase overall business productivity
• 64% – reduced costs to the business
• 60% – increased the quality and quantity of candidates during recruitment

Our research includes comparative responses from flexible workers (people who currently work flexibly) and workers without flexibility that demonstrates clear business benefits from offering flex. Flexible workers consistently responded more positively than workers without flex to a range of statements, including:

• I’m happy with my work life balance (77% of flexible workers, 47% of workers without flex)
• I would like to stay with my employer (73% of flexible workers, 58% of workers without flex)
• I feel calm and focused at work (69% of flexible workers, 46% of workers without flex)
• I would recommend my employer (65% of flexible workers, 42% of workers without flex)

Positive consensus on flex

Nikki Slowey, our co-founder and director, said:

“Our figures show a strong consensus among employers and workers that flexible working is good for business and for people. And we’re not alone in this finding. The business case for flex is well established with multiple, large-scale UK and international studies showing it makes good business sense to offer flexible working.

“The problem is that some business leaders, who are often highly successful and powerful, are still not willing to look beyond their own preferred ways of working, or the way things have always been done.

“It’s absolutely right to scrutinise flexible working. But the case for flex is stronger than ever and we believe some flexible working is possible in almost every role. We’re urging business leaders who still have doubts about flex to look at the evidence inside and outside their organisation before making decisions on how people work, rather than relying on personal preferences and tradition.”

The Scottish Government supported our research. Gillian Martin, Fair Work Minister, said:

“Flexible working is here to stay. This year’s Flex for Life research shows the demand for flexible working has not waned among workers, and that many employers recognise the business benefits it can bring.

“In the absence of powers over employment law, the Scottish Government is determined to use the levers at our disposal to promote fair work practices – of which flexible working is key – across Scotland’s labour market.

“All employers, public and private, should take on board these findings and look to improve their flexible working offer. This can help to attract and retain workers with under-utilised skills and experience and help those on low incomes access the labour market.”

Success stories

Flexible working is already delivering business benefits for thousands of Scottish employers, as well as making life better for workers. Read on for the experiences of two very different employers and the benefits they’ve noticed since introducing greater flex.

4 day week with no loss of productivity at SST Sensing

SST Sensing, which manufactures liquid and oxygen sensors, started a four-day compressed working week for production staff in January 2023 and has been closely monitoring the impact on production and staff wellbeing.

The company, which is based in Coatbridge, employs 65 people – of whom 30 are frontline production operators, like Stuart Rodger pictured building a liquid level sensor. It already offered many other forms of flexible working to all staff, such as part time hours, small adjustments to start and finish times, being able to book holiday by the hour and buy additional holiday. Office staff can also work hybrid, or compress their hours too.

Laura Byrne, Operations and Site Leader said:

“Since moving to a four-day work week, we are maintaining output levels. Our ‘on time’ delivery metrics have generally been close or above our 97.5% target. Promisingly, we hit 100% for the first time last month, and shipped almost 19,000 liquid level sensors, which is a record for this production line.

“Some production staff do still work on Fridays, and this allows us to prep build materials for the week ahead, allowing us to push product through the build process quicker.”

She said that energy and cost savings from shutting down factory equipment on Fridays were now used to offset running costs for testing sensors instead, meaning the company can achieve more with the same resources.

Staff wellbeing is tracked through informal feedback and via company data on sickness absence and staff turnover. Staff sickness is very low with just 0.9% of working days lost due to ill health in the last year (the equivalent of less than 1.3 days per worker). This compares with national Scottish data showing 3.6% of working days lost a year (and 8.2 days off sick per employee). Staff turnover at SST Sensing is around 10% each year, and well below the UK average of 15%.

Jill White, HR Advisor, said:

“We’re small enough that we can gather staff feedback informally and we know most people absolutely love the four-day week because it gives them an extra day at home. Some production staff have decided to stick with their 9-day fortnight because it suits them better, and that actually benefits us as a business too.

“Our company data and insights clearly show that offering lots of flexible working is good for our people and it’s good for our business. We’re still meeting all our production targets, as well as finding opportunities to maximise the use of our existing resources and equipment, and we hold on to skilled and loyal staff who will go the extra mile for us when we need them to.”

SST Sensing is open for customer queries full days Monday to Thursday and on Friday mornings. Production lines are operational Monday to Thursday, with some preparation work and maintenance taking place on Fridays.

Flexible working boosts recruitment and progression at law firm Horwich Farrelly 

Insurance specialist law firm Horwich Farrelly offers some form of flexible working to almost all members of staff in part because of the impact this has on recruitment and progression within the firm, especially for women.

The UK firm has four offices in Scotland and is currently recruiting to boost its Scottish team from 22 to 30 people.

All Scottish employees can work hybrid, with a predominantly 50/50 split between home and the office. A rota and buddy system ensure the firm always has solicitors ready to attend court. Staff can work part time hours, including as a temporary measure during school holidays. They can also work weekends, compress their hours, or slightly amend their start and finish times.

Steven Smart, Partner and Head of Horwich Farrelly Scotland (pictured) said:

“Offering flexible working gives our people a better work life balance but it makes good business sense for us too. We advertise roles as flexible and I can see from the applicants we’re getting that both the volume and quality has improved. Our new recruits often say that our culture and ways of working were part of their motivation in joining us, sometimes even when they’d been offered very attractive roles elsewhere.

“We’ve been actively building a pipeline of female talent within our organisation for some years, and a key element of this has been our flexible offer, together with additional support during maternity leave to encourage and support women to stay with us and progress. We’ve seen women promoted at all levels of the organisation, and the number of women partners has increased significantly. These talented, experienced lawyers help us better represent our clients and drive our continued business success.”

Horwich Farrelly has almost 800 employees across its UK workforce, and this year women represent 58% of promotions to Associate, 64% of Senior Associates, 33% of Associate Partners and 33% of Partners. The number of women partners has increased year-on-year since 2021.

The firm also offers legal apprenticeships as an alternative route into a legal career. Last year Horwich Farrelly took on 30 legal apprentices across the UK, of whom 21 were women. This is part of its strategy to build talent pipelines and support social mobility, diversity and inclusion.

Employer guide

If you’d like to create more flex in your organisation, check out our 7 steps to flex inside our Flex for Life 2024 report. This is our practical guide for employers, at whatever stage of your flexible working journey, on how to get flexible working right. The first step is the importance of having senior managers on board and advice on how to influence them.

You can download the report here