Flexible working gap creates new ‘digital divide’

Businesses are reluctant to offer their employees flexible working conditions, even though nearly a third say they would ‘definitely’ change jobs if they could have the option of working from home, a survey has found.

The report, by telecommunications company Avaya, found that less than a fifth of businesses have made provisions for all of their employees to work flexibly, despite almost 95% of the workforce saying want access to such provisions.

The organisation said businesses risk missing out on competitive advantage, as well as creating a ‘digital divide’ within their workforce by alienating the non-privileged majority.

More than three quarters of the survey’s respondents said they would be prepared to work on for their employer after retirement if the option of flexible working were open to them, which could potentially create a vast, knowledgeable workforce to ‘help plug the skills gap’, said Avaya.

Martyn Lambert, Avaya’s vice president of marketing in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, said the report showed a new digital divide.

“The digital divide used to be constructed of those who had access to technology and those who did not,” he said.

“Now it consists of those companies that have unlocked the ability to truly gain workforce productivity and efficiency while retaining their best workers – and those who are putting their businesses at risk because they don’t have the technology to support what their workers are asking for.”

© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008