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Both stars and workers reaping the benefits of flexible working

Not so long ago, the majority of office workers were tied down to a strict regime, compelled to punch in and punch out of their places of work and be visible to their bosses at all times.

Similarly, in the self-styled Golden Age of Cinema, the majority of Paramount's '24 stars', symbolized in its logo, lived within walking distance of the company's studio in the Hollywood Hills, as did most of the big-names at other production houses.

Fortunately, however, technology and travel industry improvements mean that being close to a place of work is no longer a top priority for growing numbers of workers.

For, just as Woody Harrelson can escape his Hawaii home for a few days and head to LA to shoot his latest film, or Dame Shirley Bassey can record her vocal parts in her home state of Monaco and see it put onto a record in London, so is the typical British worker now enjoying greater flexibility than ever before.

However, rather than technology, the key to this seems to be trust.

Indeed, in the same way that producers and directors can rely on George Clooney to put the joys of Lake Como behind and concentrate on the task in hand when called to act, so too have UK employers learnt that their employees can be depended upon to get on with their jobs without close supervision.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive for Work Wise UK, explains: "During the recession, more and more businesses have been looking to see how they can save money and of course one of the ways they can do that is by introducing what we call smarter working.

"As we come out of the recession, I don't think that businesses will necessarily say 'well that was it, now we can go back to presenteeism'. I think a lot of them will say, 'this is what we have learnt during the recession, flexible workforces do work'," he adds.

What's more, the signs are that UK workers are increasingly looking for benefits such as good levels of work flexibility as well as the basics such as holidays and salary when considering job opportunities.

While David Beckham may have signed up for another few months playing for AC Milan while holding down the family home in California, most Britons are not so keen on commuting.

Of those polled in a recent study by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 63 per cent said they wished to spend less time travelling to and from work, with around one in three wanting to make use of home-working technology and one in four keen to benefit from
variable start and finish times.

Sadly, for many people, the reality of daily working life will still involve sitting in a car or standing on a train for around an hour a day, with no real break in sight.

However, just as AC Milan and LA Galaxy have got over their initial reluctance to share Beckham, so too are employers coming round to flexible working practices and, though it may be no good for those staying in the same place, this growing trend means that those seeking
out new job opportunities are in a stronger position than ever to negotiate variants on the standard nine to five routine.


If you are looking at a specialist job opportunity it is still worth looking at job centre options when thinking about you’re a new career; you may want to search for several related vacancies in different locations before applying.