Flexible working is set to be big in 2020

Social media site LinkedIn has picked flexible working as its big trend for 2020.

Every year LinkedIn draws up a list of things to look out for in the following 12 months.

This year they’ve pinpointed ‘time as the perk professionals want most’.

Their futurologists picked up on experiments with the four day week that took place in 2019. Microsoft’s trial in Japan was deemed a success. Labour put it in their manifesto. And while they obviously lost the election many people looked at the idea more seriously as a result.

Working dads

According to LinkedIn working mothers stand to gain most from the move to flexible working.

However that is to ignore the clamour among working dads for a change in their relationship with work.

Our survey found eight out of 10 working dads would welcome a four day week. While research by DaddiLife carried out with Deloitte among millennial dads found a third had switched job in search of better flexible arrangements and another third were actively looking for a new, more flexible position.

The key to making flexible working a success according to LinkedIn’s experts is to involve employees in drawing up new working arrangements.

Editor Isabelle Roughall says, “Flexible work is no longer an allowance made for a few employees; it is a demand from all.”

Zebras and unicorns

Other trends picked out by LinkedIn are that mental health will be more openly discussed in the workplace and the rise of ‘zebras’. Start ups that grow very quickly and sometimes unsustainably, like WeWork, have been dubbed unicorns. But zebras grow more slowly and sustainably with a focus on values.

Focus is set to become a skill that employers value. And the LinkedIn crystal ball gazers even suggest that capitalism itself might be in for a rethink in the new year.

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