Want to attract older workers and the long term sick back to work?

By Nicola Smith, Interim CEO, Timewise

Though job vacancies are declining, we still have 1.1m unfilled vacancies in the UK and acute talent shortages across most sectors, and on average just one person applies for every full-time (a ratio of 1:1).

No wonder government & employers are looking to retirees & people managing long-term health conditions or disabilities to fill the gap.

Part-time jobs are in demand – but there are too few of them

Much discussion has been had around the benefits of offering flexible working possibilities, with the CBI stating in its most recent Future of Work conference that flexible working has finally ‘mainstreamed’.

But in reality, the UK’s jobs market is seriously lagging behind what’s actually happening in the world of work.  According to our analysis of 6 million UK job ads, fewer than a third include ‘flex options’ of some kind. Within that, just 12% offer part-time work and 12% home-working, some or all the time.

Employers – please understand that many older workers and long-term sick are probably not even looking at jobs that don’t mention part-time work (which make up a whopping 88% of all vacancies).

You have to get yourself into the mindset and behavioural patterns of the person making the search. People who need part-time jobs, search for the part-time options they are looking for: 2 day marketing jobs, 3 day finance jobs etc.

If part-time isn’t mentioned in the ad, it simply won’t be found.

This is what we call ‘the unseen jobs’ problem.

Widen your applicant pool by offering part-time up front

If you want to appear in the searches and feeds of those who need flexible work: you must include part-time options in your job ad.

Doing so immediately upgrades your chances of filling a role. Remember my 1:1 stat in the beginning? Well, 4 people are chasing every available part-time job in the UK. Your odds of finding talent for a role, at all increase greatly, once part-time becomes a possibility.

And don’t forget – Day One Flex rights are on the horizon. Meaning that soon, any employee starting a new job with you can request part-time hours or a flexible pattern with you from day one in that new role with you. Stating flex possibilities in the job ad from Day One means you’ve taken control from the start, set out the parameters and made potential working patters clear to all.

Get this right now, and by the time the legislation comes around, you’ll be leaps & bounds ahead of competitors, and you’ll have transformed your power to attract talent from within these two pools and beyond.

Published March 2023