If there’s one time of year when workers value flexible schedules, it’s got to be the holiday season.
And now there’s more evidence of just how much your people — especially those with children — crave flexible schedules.
A recent survey asked a group of working parents what they’d look for first in the next job. The responses:
- flexible work options — 89%
- good pay — 50%
- feeling good about the company, the people and the corporate culture –44%
- having a relatively short commute — 36%
- finding a job in line with their career path — 34%), and
- finding a challenging job — 33%.
Okay, the survey was done by FlexJobs, an online job board for flexible, telecommuting and freelance positions. So we may have to take the results with a grain of salt.
Nonetheless, flexible schedules and work/life balance are workplace issues that aren’t going away.
Holiday blues
The survey also probed into the stress working parents feel this time of year and how workplace flexibility might alleviate that burden.
Almost eight of 10 parents (78%) said the holiday season stresses them out.
According to respondents, even if they take vacation or paid time off during the holidays, 53% will still be expected to check in or work from home on their days off.
What’s worse, 29% said they faced additional childcare challenges during the holidays.
