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Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itpro/0,39024675,39251534,00.htm

Flexible working still a stigma, say techies
IT departments living in the Victorian era...

By Natasha Lomas

Published: Wednesday 25 June 2008

Working from home - or when out and about with the help of a featherweight laptop - may seem to capture the spirit of the age but attitudes to work are far more Victorian in the IT department, a survey of techies has found.

Although more than half (61.1 per cent) of the more than 900 IT workers polled do work flexible hours, almost half (45.2 per cent) of those think the industry has not adapted to flexible working, according to research conducted by online recruitment company the IT Job Board.

Nearly a fifth (17.4 per cent) said they believe flexible working has a negative effect on career progression, with some respondents saying employers see them as less committed to their job if they are not in the office.

And 22.6 per cent said they have considered going back to work on a non-flexible basis because of the constraints imposed on them by this way of working.

Yet the ability to work from home is very important for IT pros. When looking for a new job, techies cite flexible working as the next most important criteria after salary, according to the poll - with 57.4 per cent citing WFH as 'very important'. Other factors that ranked highly are location and career progression.

Of the more than a third (38.9 per cent) of respondents who do not work flexible hours, the vast majority (81.5 per cent) said they are not offered the option by their employer. And well over half (65.4 per cent) said they feel their work/life balance suffers through non-flexible working conditions.

Currently, only parents with children who are under six or disabled are entitled to request flexible working. However, earlier this year, the government announced plans to extend flexible working rights to all parents with children under the age of 16 - giving an extra 4.5 million people the right to ask to work flexible hours.

Of the techies who are able to work flexibly, a quarter (25.3 per cent) do it because their employer allows it, the research found, and a similar percentage (24.9 per cent) said it is a lifestyle choice. Slightly less than a fifth (19.7 per cent) said they want to avoid busy travel times.

Around a third (34.2 per cent) of the flexible techies work from home, while a similar percentage (32.2 per cent) work part time. Only eight per cent work flexi-time, according to the survey.

Alex Farrell, MD of the IT Job Board said offering flexible working can be a way for employers to attract and retain talented staff - something of core importance to IT with its skills crisis.

Flexible working can be especially important to attracting women into the industry, another area the tech industry needs to improve, he added.

In related news, a survey by recruitment agency Career Moves Group has found improvements in technology and flexible working have allowed commuter towns to spread hundreds of miles from London, as far afield as Dorset, the West Country and the Midlands.