The latest Flexible Working Index – a report that analyses data across the flexible jobs market to track the biggest work trends right now, as well as those set to shape the future of work – shows that the flexible jobs market is growing despite ‘return-to-office’ (RTO) demands ramping up. 62% more flexible jobs are currently being advertised, compared to this time last year.

The findings come as the balance of power swings back to employers across the labour market as a whole. Amidst shrinking wages and job vacancies, and rising unemployment rates, many employers are pulling back on flexible work. Dell, Boots and IBM are among the companies recently moving to penalise or restrict remote work.

Analysis* pooled data insights from a sample of over 4,000 job adverts and 840,000 job searches, as well as the preferences expressed by over 8,500 job seekers between January and March 2024. 

Flexible jobs market grows as wider labour market shrinks

Whilst vacancies shrink across the labour market as a whole, Flexa recorded 32% more flexible job posts this quarter, compared to last quarter (up from 3,073 to 4,056). Compared to this time last year, 62% more flexible jobs are on offer.

And despite wider RTO mandates, “remote-first” roles (whereby office attendance is optional and teams meet up every month, for example) account for a significant proportion of jobs being advertised. Flexa data shows that almost a third (31%) of all roles on offer right now are remote-first.

This is despite the fact that the number of remote-first roles on offer has actually declined by 26% since the start of the year (down from 43% in January to 31% in March). TUI Group, Blood Cancer UK and WeTransfer are amongst employers currently offering remote-first work. 

RTO mandates are futile: workers won’t sacrifice remote work

Even amidst RTO mandates, job seekers are holding out for remote working options. Over the last quarter, half of workers were searching for “fully remote” roles (whereby companies do not require any office attendance), on average. Demand increased during this time, with fully remote job searches rising by 11% between January and March (up from 47% to 52%). 

Hertility Health, Trust Keith, and Unplugged are amongst employers currently offering fully remote work. 

Just under half (42%) of workers were searching for remote-first jobs over the last quarter, on average. Demand also increased slightly, with remote-first job searches rising by 5% between January and March (up from 41% to 43%). 

Workers are willing to let more novel forms of location-based flexibility slide. 27% fewer workers were searching for “work from anywhere” schemes (whereby staff can work from anywhere in the world for a set number of days per year) by March, compared to in January (down from 33% to 24%). 

Parental leave is a priority: unlimited annual leave is not

Enhanced parental leave is another flexible working benefit that job seekers are not willing to give up in today’s tight labour market. More workers expressed a preference for enhanced parental leave in March (16% in total) than in any other month over the last year. 

At a time when the government is rolling out an expansion of free childcare for parents struggling with rising nursery costs, it’s clear that workers are still reliant on employers’ support when it comes to looking after young children. Mars UK, Virgin Media O2 and Huel are amongst employers currently offering staff enhanced parental leave. 

Unlimited annual leave is one benefit that job seekers are willing to forgo. 

Of all the benefits that have dropped down workers’ priorities since the start of the year, unlimited annual leave has had one of the furthest falls – second only to “core hours” (whereby staff must work during certain times, e.g. 11am-3pm, but are given flexibility outside of that). 

Since the start of the year, the number of workers expressing a preference for unlimited annual leave fell by 15% (down from 26% to 22%), whilst preferences for core hours fell by 19% (down from 16% to 13%). 

Molly Johnson-Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Flexa, comments: 

“The employer-led labour market and RTO-era is shining a light on what employees really want. And whilst many are willing to let more novel forms of flexibility slide (including “work from anywhere” schemes and unlimited annual leave), job seekers’ non-negotiable criteria for new roles is telling. 

“Employees are right to hold out for core flexible working benefits (like fully remote and remote-first roles, and enhanced parental leave) that they won’t compromise on. The alternative risks employers and employees losing out if individuals find themselves in roles that don’t offer the working environments they need to be happy and productive. Many employers already know this. It’s because of these true flexible working champions that the future is still bright for flexible job hunters, and that flexible job vacancies are continuing to grow in number in spite of wider market forces.”

*Index analyses data from Flexa Careers