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Women are three times more likely to work part-time than men
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In Europe, on average 3 out of 4 employees have some work-schedule flexibility, and this concerns 9 in 10 employees in the Netherlands and Nordic countries.
Flexible working arrangements are most often available to and used by employees with higher education and who work in top-level jobs.
Employees with long working hours and commuting times are l...
Citations
... This study examines the association between FWA provision and innovation in SMEs. SMEs have been shown to lag behind large firms in FWA provisions due to the relatively high cost and their low employee numbers (Thevenon et al., 2016). We investigate whether or not FWA provisions enhance innovation in each domain and across a number of domains (innovation breadth). ...
... Specifically, allowing employees to choose their start and finish times and convenient roster or shift times improves product, process, market and organisational innovations as well as innovations across these domains. Flexitime is the most common FWA that employers provide their employees (Thevenon et al., 2016) so that SMEs that do not provide flexitime miss out on accessing good employees and/or achieving the levels of employee commitment associated with this FWA (Hill et al., 2010). Moreover, improvements in WLB and stress reduction from flexitime provide employees the freedom to explore and create knowledge. ...
... The findings are consistent with trends in the global labour market where governments are empowering employees to access FWAs to meet their WLB needs (Russell et al., 2009;Thevenon et. al 2016). While the global literature is largely positive on outcomes from FWAs, it remains that FWAs such as job-sharing and WFH are more limiting in the outcomes generated for SME employers, particularly with respect to innovation. This finding is particularly relevant post COVID-19 as employees' requests for WFH FWA increase. The challenge fo ...
Employee wellbeing is vital for their job satisfaction and motivation to achieve the long-term goals of their employers. Organisations provide flexible work arrangements (FWAs) as one of the strategies for attending to employee wellbeing. Despite the motivating role of FWAs, their links with firm level innovation are rarely considered. This study examines the relationships between FWAs and innovation. It also investigates how the competitive environment in which firms operate moderates the FWA-innovation relationship. Drawing upon a rich longitudinal data of 1513 Australian SMEs, our findings suggest that provision of flexitime and flexi-leave encourage innovation as they provide the mental space and diversity needed for knowledge creation, sharing and exploitation. Moreover, high market competition has limited effect on the positive associations between flexitime and flexi-leave, as FWAs, and innovation but attenuates the relationship between job-sharing and innovation. Our findings imply that SME managers should prioritize the provisions of flexitime and flexi-leave to their employees as these FWAs have pronounced effects on firm-level innovation.
The purpose of this study was to generate new insights into the theory of remote work from the Arab region by exploring employees’ experience on working away from office during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait. The aim was to identify key challenges employees faced while working remotely and find opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of remote work practices. Using quantitative approach, 385 anonymous responses were collected. Findings show that employees had predominantly positive experience with the remote work. Employees were able to perform work tasks more efficiently and had more space for professional development. However, it was challenging to adapt to new working conditions, balance work and caring responsibilities and cope with feelings of loneliness and isolation. The article further discusses respondents’ recommendation towards the management and identifies other strategies to improve remote employee experience.
In this text, the gender dimension of low fertility is considered on the basis of the relevant literature and statistical data regarding the impact of employment on reproductive behaviour in postmodern societies. A review of fertility rates and employment rates of women with young children from 2010 onwards leads to several interesting observations. For example, during the period of study, the birth rate in Hungary increased, while it decreased in Finland by 0.4 children per woman. The most stable and relatively high fertility rates are observed in France and Sweden. At the same time, the employment rate of women with children aged three to five grew in Hungary, but the employment rate of those with children under the age of three was extremely low. In countries with higher fertility, the lowest employment rates for women with children under the age of three are in Finland and France, but they are about four times higher than the rate in Hungary. During the observed period, the employment of mothers remained stable at a relatively high level in Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, without differences in female employment according to the age of their children. The fertility rates in these countries are relatively high. The results of empirical research in European countries suggest that the gender dimension of low fertility cannot be understood outside the specific social context, nor without considering the conditions at the micro level. Central to this consideration is the link between low fertility and women?s employment, as raising children is still gender-specific to an extent. However, men can participate in parenthood not only in terms of their reproductive behaviour, but also their right to participate in raising children. In addition, this text identifies negative perceptions of employment that refer to the modalities of worklife balance and the uncertainty regarding female and male employment. Both aspects produce certain effects on the socioeconomic position of the family, which can influence decisions relating to parenthood and the number of children the parents would like to have. In terms of taking action on low birth rates, it could be concluded that endangering families? economic status and reproducing patriarchal gender regimes are not favourable outcomes. This article provides a framework for more concrete research into these issues in Serbian society.
