Future-Proofing Your Flexible Workforce

Lockdown lessons from managers who are parents

Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the world of work has faced an unprecedented combination of social and economic crises and rapidly increasing flexibility at work. Working parents and carers have been particularly affected by these changes. For many whose work could be performed from home, the experience of juggling work and caring responsibilities was more intense than ever. On the other hand, the normalisation of flexibility in the workplace – particularly homeworking and flexitime – has opened the possibility of family-friendly work practices becoming more widespread.

This report outlines how the extraordinary work-from-home ‘social experiment’ during the pandemic affected working parents, and how organisations and line managers sought to minimise the impact of the pandemic through using flexible working to support their staff. The report will focus on the lessons that can enable organisations to be better prepared for any future crisis, particularly with the likely turmoil the UK faces in the coming years.

This report is by:
Maria Adamson, Queen Mary University of London
Alexandra Beauregard, Birkbeck University of London
Suzan Lewis, Middlesex University London

In collaboration with Working Families.