Employers are being called upon to offer their employees flexible working, research has found.
Growing numbers of UK businesses could be prompted to invest in electronic document storage as they work to accommodate employees keen to enjoy the benefits of flexible working.
The latest research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) has found that one in three British workers would like to be offered a greater degree of flexibility by their bosses.
While the study also found that some 43 per cent of employees are able to enjoy some flexibility on an as-and-when basis, fewer than one in ten of those polled said that their superiors offer them flexible working on a permanent basis.
On the back of the findings, the CIPP has called for flexible working to be made the norm, suggesting demand for secure online document storage solutions in order to keep homeworkers’ data secure could be set to rise over the next few years.
At the very least, the organisation’s senior policy liaison officer Diana Bruce has argued, bosses should make their employees feel that they do have the "opportunity to make a request".
The publication of the CIPP’s latest findings comes amid a growing movement towards flexible working, both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and the Western world.
Earlier this month a separate report from Regus revealed that one in three smaller businesses plan on recruiting more flexible workers over the next 12 months.
Furthermore, four in ten of those enterprises questioned were found to be keen to take on more freelancers over the next year as they look to expand without making any long-term commitments in the current economic climate.
Additionally, the global recruitment specialist noted that, on the back of this growing movement towards flexible working, one in four of the UK’s employed population can now be classed as ‘flexible workers’, with this trend set to carry on for the foreseeable future.