The implicit promise of work-life flexibility is that it can address workers’ needs to reconcile work demands with personal and family needs, all while benefiting firms in the form of a greater ability to attract and retain employees and in potential performance gains. The idea of flexibility-driven mutual gains is especially appealing now, when gender equity is at the media forefront and where nonwork demands and job stress are on the rise. Elder care demands, for example, are rising with the global aging of populations. Men today are reporting as much work-family conflict as women, and single employees report work-family conflict as well.
Hourly Workers Need Flexibility the Most, But Are Often the Least Likely to Get It
A recent study analyzed trends across 186 studies, conducted between 2010 and 2015, of work-life flexibility and its impacts, particularly around which types of workers had access to it. Workers in hourly jobs (food service or retail) typically can’t take advantage of flexibility, and yet they’re often the people who can benefit from it the most. Workers in professional occupations tend to have more access, though they can be subject to task overload or constant connectivity. Work-life inequality — defined as unequal opportunities to access work-life supports (the flexibility to control work schedules, workloads, time off, or location of work) — is very real and and is ripe for improvement by business leaders and scholars in the form of policy development and further research.