Construction firm Skanska adopts flexible working

Global construction firm Skanska has adopted a new flexible working policy.

The company employs over 5000 people in the UK. It’s believed the vast majority of those are men. It’s become one of the first construction companies to embrace flexible working. The industry as a whole is known to be keen to revisit how it operates. The pandemic has forced a number of firms to make changes already mooted before lockdown.

As part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic Skanska identified that people can be more productive if they’re flexible in how they work, for example by adapting their core hours to avoid rush-hour travel. The company also invested in new digital technologies to enable the changes.

A Loughborough University study partly sponsored by Skanska, found that flexible working in the construction industry could bring cost, flexibility and productivity benefits. However the report also raised concerns around increased feelings of isolation.

Agility and flexibility

Skanska UK’s Executive Vice President, Harvey Francis said; “Flex-it gives us greater agility and flexibility that will allow people to perform at their best and marks a significant shift in working patterns for many of our people.

“It has the potential to deliver substantial benefits to our business in a range of ways. Flex-it supports our drive to return to full productivity, as well as contributing to significant mental health and wellbeing benefits for our employees. It also helps us deliver on our pledge to be carbon neutral by 2045 by cutting the time our employees spend travelling to and from work.”

The company is headquartered in Sweden. Its UK arm is worth £1.7billion. The firm is currently working on HS2 and a range of other high profile infrastructure projects. It is preparing to help build Britain’s first low cost BoKlok homes in partnership with fellow Swedes IKEA.

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