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Employers still embrace work life flex while on the edge
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The DOW hit its highest point since early January, good news came out of the housing market Thursday, and earnings reports are better than expected this quarter, but it doesn’t mean we’re out of the mucky waters of recession yet. Judging by a new report by the Families and Work Institute, employers are certainly not thinking that way. Yet, work life flexibility has not been thrown to the curb in tumultuous times. An important note as we adapt to the so-called “new economy” which is consistently offering evidence of the blurred lines between the working and living experience – which all but demands more flex. The report, The Impact of the Recession on Employers was the substance behind the testimony of the Institute’s co-founder Ellen Galinsky Thursday morning. She spoke before a Congressional Joint Economic Committee which addressed: Balancing Work and Family in the Recession: How Employees and Employers are Coping (Click on the title to watch the testimony). “We found overall that the recession has taken a very severe toll on employers,” said Galinksy who went on to cite that in the study’s national sample, two thirds of the employers reported declining revenues. 77% had to resort to cost cutting measures. Among those companies – 64% suffered lay offs. So employers, like us all, have been cutting back. But there was one surprising finding in the report said Galisky,”81% of employers are maintaining the flexibility that they offer, 13% are increasing it during the recession and only 6% have reduced flexibility. Perhaps that’s because employers recognize that flexibility is connected to engagement, retention, health and wellness – our studies certainly show that.” Still, as Galinsky and the others who testified pointed out, flexibility has to work for both the employer and employee. The distance between the two camps needs a moderator of sorts. A number of organizations and research entities such as theFamilies and Work Institute, Sloan Work and Family Research Network, and Workplace Flexibility 2010 have brought the national conversation to a new level, but legislative movement is agonizingly slow. Back in December of 2007 the Working Families Flexibility Act had a short run. It was re -introduced in March, but it seems to remain nothing but a political football with little action taken ( read more about that in this post by work life expert Cali Yost). Perhaps the recession will force the conversation into a new realm with a fresh set of eyes and ears in our WorkLife Nation.
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