Flexible working to 'become mainstream'
The idea of flexible working will become more mainstream in 2016, according to a report by global real estate company CBRE.
The firm's 2015/2016 Occupier Survey, which polls real estate decision makers at 120 companies around the world, found that flexible working has become a priority area for many companies.
With employment becoming more "heavily focused on choice", researchers have found that companies are seeing increasing demand from employees for better benefits, including the option of working from home.
Commenting on the report, Michelle Pattison, Senior director of EMEA global workplace solutions at CBRE, said: "What businesses are looking to do is create a better employee experience, one which is more attractive for people coming in but also for retaining staff that are already there."
She added that offering more choice around working hours and locations is one way employers are hoping to attract and retain the best talent.
The findings are in line with a recent report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which found that employers that fail to offer flexible working are losing out on a good proportion of highly-qualified recruits.
According to the study, only 6.2 per cent of 'quality' job vacancies are advertised with options to work flexibly, despite the fact that 47 per cent of respondents said they wanted to work flexibly.
Improvements in broadband connectivity has made it easier than ever before for workers to work remotely - be it at home or at a workhub. What's more, the growth of cloud computing now ensures that all the necessary work data can be accessed from any device quickly and securely.
Experts hope that these technologies will help fuel the growth of flexible working in 2016, ensuring that businesses can attract and retain the best talent.
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