20 June 2008 – Flexible workers are choosing not to cap their own working week and are happy to work beyond 48 hours, according to a new survey from Workology, an online community that supports flexible workers, freelancers, portfolio workers, and self-employed professionals. The Attitudes to Work poll, which questioned 1,000 flexible workers, found that nearly one-third (30 per cent) work more than 50 hours per week, while 32 per cent work between 41 and 50 hours.
Last week, Britain secured the permanent right to opt out from the EU’s mandatory 48-hour working week. The directive is designed to protect workers from being forced or feeling obliged to work in excess of 48 hours per week.
The results of the Workology survey, however, show these good intentions may be misplaced. For flexible workers, it’s not the number of hours they put in that determine a happy work-life balance, it’s the way in which they work. According to the survey, 43 per cent claim that flexible working has improved the quality of their life ‘a lot’, while 32 per cent claim it has improved ‘enormously’. Just four per cent believe that they have not seen an improvement since opting out of the office-based 9-5 work environment.
When it comes to ‘how’ opting out of the traditional full-time week has helped improve their quality of life, the most common answer cited (49 per cent) is ‘being able to control when and where I work’. Second was ‘escaping the rat race’ (35 per cent), while ‘more time to pursue own interests’ (30 per cent) came third. Having ‘more time to spend with family’ and ‘cheaper childcare costs’ trailed in fourth and sixth place respectively.
In fact, this ability to take control of how they work is so important to flexible workers that the majority couldn’t be tempted back to the rigid 9-5 structure, even for an enormous pay hike. The poll found that 41 per cent of flexible workers would forgo a 100 per cent pay rise if it meant giving up control of the way they work. When the incentive was lowered to a 50 per cent pay increase, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) claimed that they would prefer to keep control of their work arrangements.
Emily Stokes Hotchkiss, a life coach and expert on the psychology of flexible working, comments: "The findings reflect what I’m witnessing as a life coach. There’s a definite sense that for those that took part in the survey, and for those that I work with on a regular basis, it’s all about being able to taking control of how they work and creating a working pattern that suits them.
“Even though for many flexible workers their hours are long – nearly a third work in excess of 50 hours – clearly the fact that they control when, where and how they work makes it all worthwhile. Evidently, far more worthwhile than a bulging pay cheque at the end of the month.”
Sam Gyimah, Managing Director, Workology, comments: ”The poll shows that the UK’s flexible workers are anything but work shy. They don’t mind putting in the hours, as long as they can offset their long days with comfortable working arrangements.”
Workology polled 1000 flexible workers in June 2008. For more information on Workology, visit www.workology.com.
