Getting flexible - the response to challenging times
The news is full of signs that the economic crisis
has been bringing about a change in attitudes to the
way we work in the UK. Here are 4 key
indicators:
-
A rise in part-time working -
now 27% of the UK workforce
-
A rise in temporary work - an 8%
rise since 2008, now 5.8% of the workforce
-
A rise in self-employment - up
4% since 2008, now 13.6% of the workforce
-
Changes to working beyond
current 'retirement age'
The rise in part-time working is the main reason for
an overall rise in the number of people in work.
In part, this and the increase in temporary posts
are a sign that employers are taking a cautious
approach to coming out of the worst days of the
recession.
A key element of the figures is that while most
people who work part-time or in temporary contracts
do so by choice, there is a marked increase in the
numbers who are doing so out of necessity rather
than choice. The key question is, when good times
return, will the number of part-time and temporary
workers fall again? Will people who have become
self-employed abandon this in pursuit of security as
an employee?
There may well be a fall in these categories of
workers if we see the economy bounce back strongly.
If faced with full order books and possible labour
shortages as good times return, the easiest thing
for employers to do is to persuade their existing
staff to become full time or permanent.
But there are 3 reasons why we will not swing back
strongly to the old ways.
-
Employers - except those with
very short memories - will realise the
advantages of keeping their labour costs as
flexible as possible.
-
Many people new to working
part-time, temporary or as self-employed
contractors will prefer to stick with these
working arrangements if they allow them to have
more control of their work and a better quality
of life
-
The changing structure of the
workforce and the pensions crisis will mean that
more people will be working later in life.
But they will want to do so on a more flexible
basis. As a society, we haven't yet worked
out how to balance flexibility and security for
working towards and beyond 'retirement age'
(which will itself become a more flexible
concept). But it's something that will emerge
over the next few years.
The times demand that we change. The signs are that
we are doing so in adversity. The challenge is
to keep it going when prosperity returns.
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