New research reveals that less than 1 in 9 permanent jobs in Greater Manchester are advertised as open to flexible or part-time working options.
With 7 in 10 UK workers currently working flexibly in some way, employers in Greater Manchester are failing to tap into a large and diverse pool of potential workers who need and want working patterns that shun the 9 to 5.New research published today by flexible working experts Timewise, reveals that less than one in nine vacancies for permanent jobs at or above the minimum wage in Greater Manchester offer any form of flexible working options – be it on location or hours1.
The Timewise Greater Manchester Flexible Jobs Index, supported by EY, is a first-of-a-kind review of the flexible recruitment market in the region, based on the analysis of over 190,000 permanent job vacancies advertised at £14,000 or above2.
With seven in 10 UK employees working flexibly in some way3, the research suggests that a high number of employers in the Greater Manchester region are failing to tap into a large potential workforce, by not stating their openness to flexible working options in their job ads.
The lack of such jobs is also severely narrowing career prospects for the many people who are already working flexibly. And for the many for who full-time work is not an option – particularly women with caring responsibilities, older workers, and those with heath and disabilities issues – find themselves either locked-out of work, or stuck in low-paid part-time jobs they are overqualified for, unable to progress their careers.
Driving structural changes in the region’s jobs market – by designing and unlocking more permanent jobs to flexible working options – will be key to helping employers access a wider and more diverse pool of talent, as well as help raise the living standards of the many households who are stuck in low-pay due to their need to work part-time hours, by increasing their earnings through access to better quality flexible jobs, not just by working more hours.
This will help to deliver significant social as well as business benefits, tackling the widely cited skills shortages and driving the economic growth of the Northern Powerhouse.
Emma Stewart MBE, CEO & Co-Founder of Timewise, said: “Unlocking permanent jobs to flexibility within the region will be key to helping employers access a wider and more diverse pool of talent – whether it is people with parenting or caring responsibilities, older workers, people with disabilities, or the growing cohort of people who simply do not want to conform to the traditional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 working pattern.”
“Our research has highlighted the pressing need to focus on how to unlock more quality jobs to flexible working at the point of hire, ensuring that more workers in Greater Manchester can both benefit from and contribute to the economic growth in the Northern Powerhouse.”
“Implementing robust flexible working strategies needs to be part of the wider debate of how key employers and policy makers can help shape Greater Manchester as a future-fit region with a dynamic and inclusive workforce.”
Bob Ward, EY’s North West Senior Partner, who is supporting today’s new Index, says: “Creating a more flexible jobs market in Greater Manchester will help contribute to the city’s inclusive growth.”
“There is no doubt that the workplace of the future will be more flexible and the region’s employers can help future-proof themselves by adapting their own recruitment processes. At EY, flexible working has become the way we do business – it is part of our culture. Our people at all levels of our organisation can work flexibly, including our senior leaders for a range of reasons, and we also advertise all of our roles as ‘open to flexibility’.
“Supporting the Timewise Flexible Jobs Index for Greater Manchester will help to draw attention to the changes that employers can make to get ahead of the curve, and help strengthen the city’s reputation as a leading talent magnet, globally.”
November 2017
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Campaign Director, Jo Burkill at press@timewise.co.uk.
1 In this report, flexible working is defined as a pattern of working that is either part time, or if full time, that offers one of these forms of flexibility:
Flexible working in this report does not refer to zero-hour contracts, temping, commission only or franchise opportunities.
2 The Timewise Greater Manchester Flexible Jobs Index is based on the analysis of over 190,000 job ads from over 80 UK job boards in the period between January and March 2017. The data source was CEB Talent Neuron, and jobs were filtered using 18 keywords relating to different forms of flexible working. The following job types were excluded in this analysis: temping, self-employed, commission only, freelance, and franchise opportunities.
The Index includes analysis of job ads across the following areas in the Greater Manchester region: Oldham, Tameside, Stockport, Wigan, Rochdale, Bolton, Sale, Bury, Trafford, Salford, Altrincham and the City of Manchester.
3 Source: ‘Flexible Working: A Talent Imperative’, Timewise, 2017. 73 per cent of the UK workforce currently work either part-time or full-time with some form of flexible working pattern. See full report, here https://timewise.co.uk/knowledge/research/talent-imperative/.
Timewise (www.timewise.co.uk) is a multi-award winning social business, working to unlock the flexible jobs market in the UK. We share market insights on flexible working and flexible hiring, deliver training and consultancy to help businesses attract and develop the best talent, and conduct research such as our annual Flexible Jobs Index.
We also run Timewise Jobs (www.timewisejobs.co.uk), a national jobs board for roles that are part time or open to flexibility.
Timewise is led by award-winning founders and Joint CEOs, Karen Mattison and Emma Stewart. They have been listed as two of the UK’s leading radical thinkers by the Observer newspaper and Nesta; named ‘Small Business Heroes’ by Management Today magazine and ‘two of the key social entrepreneurs to watch’ by Real Business magazine; and are winners of the Institute of Directors’ Women Changing the Business World award, following nominations from the UK public. In 2010 they were made MBEs for their services to social enterprise.
