What Actually is Flexible Working in the PR & Comms Industry

Headline Results

• 194 respondents in total.

• 84% said flexible working hours were important to them, of which 66% said this meant having the ability to take time off for personal reasons during the traditional working day and make up the time elsewhere.

• 84% said hybrid working was important to them, of which the highest proportion (42%) said they’d prefer two days a week in the office and 58% said they’d prefer to have the choice over which days they were in the office vs home.

• 39% said they’d like to work part time, with the majority of those (57%) wanting to work four days a week.

• 14% said that they’d like to be able do a job share.

• 32% of those currently employed said their employer doesn’t meet their flexible working needs.

Of the people that considered hybrid working important, most (58%) said they’d prefer to have a choice of which days they come into the office rather than having set days.

17% said they don’t mind as long as they get to work on a hybrid basis, with the remaining 25% saying they’d prefer set days in the office.

What Does this Mean for Employers?

Many employers tell us they offer flexible working but when asked what that looks like, they say they allow their team to work from home twice a week. This survey shows that would only be considered as meeting the flexible working needs of 19% of those that valued hybrid working (which is 84% of the population). However, if those employers were to increase this to three days per week, they would meet the needs of over double the number of people.

What’s also essential to consider is that the same number of people that said hybrid working was important also said flexible working hours were important. This is often a benefit overlooked by employers. When developing a flexible working policy it’s important to consider not only location of work, but hours too.

Over a third of respondents said that part time work was important, with the vast majority of those wanting to work four days a week. This highlights that enabling a conversation around part time work doesn’t necessarily mean a large reduction in days/hours. A relatively low number said that a job share was important – perhaps more could be done in the industry to educate the population on how this works for both employers and employees.

Parents’ and Carers’ flexible working needs were shown to be met more frequently than those without caring responsibilities, which perhaps suggests that employers have put into place good policies for those that more obviously need flexibility, but have forgotten about their wider workforce. Employers should be mindful that flexible working benefits different people in different ways. It shouldn’t always be presumed that it’s only useful for those with parental and caring responsibilities. For true inclusiveness, flexibility needs to be an option for all employees.

Of course, employers can choose to disregard what their current and prospective employees want when it comes to flexibility. However, the risk is that their existing team will choose to leave and join an agency that provides greater flexibility, and when hiring to replace them, employers may struggle if they don’t meet the needs of the talent pool. Whilst two thirds of the population have their flexible working needs met, a third don’t. That’s potentially a third of an entire PR and Communications agency or team that’s not feeling satisfied and is therefore at risk of leaving if there’s a better opportunity presented to them. However, for those getting flexible working right, according to the CIPR’s Population Report there are 63,563 PR and Communications practitioners in England and Wales, which means there’s potentially 20,000 people that might be interested in joining you because you’re able to meet their needs better than their current employer.

Flexible working is such an individual thing; what works for one person might not work for the next. Therefore to create an inclusive culture, employers should be adaptable with their policies and have regular conversations with their employees about what’s working.

What Does this Mean for Employees?

Simply, you’re not alone in wanting to work flexibly, so don’t let any employer – current or prospective – tell you you’re being unreasonable in wanting to do so.

In April 2024, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act came into force, which gives any employee the statutory right to make a flexible working request from day 1 of employment. You can make two requests per year, your employer must give you a decision within two months and, crucially, you don’t have to explain your reason for wanting flexible working (although the general consensus is that it’ll probably help your case if you do). If your employer intends to deny the request, they’re required to consult with you, which aims to open up the conversation and lead to a better agreement for both parties.

Hopefully these survey results give you the confidence to have those conversations with your employer if you’re one of the 32% who’s flexible working needs are not currently met.

What Next?

While this survey doesn’t provide a benchmark for what’s currently offered by other PR and Communications employers, it provides something far more valuable; an insight into what should to be offered.

If you’re an employer wondering how to make changes to your flexible working policies or an employee that wants to understand what alternative options are available, please get in touch for advice.