The future of flexibility

Jay Gadher, Operations Director at Husp

Jay talks about the changing shape of the flexible workforce. What does flexibility really mean and will regulatory change really shift the current landscape?

There has been a huge amount of speculation in the market about what the future of flexibility and particularly the contractor workforce will look like following the changes to the off-payroll working regulations (IR35) in April 2020. Whilst these are bound to have an impact on the way companies engage with contractors, the need for a flexible workforce will remain.

Flexible working has two widely used meanings: flexibility in the way you carry out your job, for example flexible hours or locations and flexibility in terms of additional temporary resource. Both of these types of flexibility are on the rise.

Flexibility of operating whether that is through different hours or working in different locations is becoming an expectation for job seekers. The standard 9-5 hours in the same office everyday is less and less likely to be the experience workers have having. However, there are operational challenges to offering this type of flexibility and technology is core to meeting the increasing expectations from workers that they can choose both when and where they work.

When it comes to additional temporary resources, companies will always have projects and incidents which mean that they can’t manage their workload for a certain period of time using just their permanent headcount. Therefore, there is always going to be a market for contractor resource to bring their experience and skills into the company for the duration of the need. This market has been growing in size with many people choosing their contracting career to give them a wider choice of work, more opportunity to take breaks in their career to follow other interests and a greater experience of both types of work and different companies.

Umbrella companies are likely to become more and more important in meeting contractor needs. And the ability to provide continuous employment across changing contracts means that people choosing this type of work don’t need to miss out on all of the benefits of a permanent role while still maintaining the flexibility of contracting.

I believe the future of flexibility is bright, and whilst the landscape may shift and change over the coming year, there is increasing demand and opportunity on the horizon.

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