Flexible working hours of Covid crisis should become new normal, concludes think-tank report

Changes to working hours and routines during the Covid-19 lockdown show how adopting more innovating approaches to flexible working could be beneficial to the UK economy across all industries, concludes a report published by think-tank, IPPR.

The report suggests that the adoption of new working practices during the pandemic show how flexible working hours can be adopted, even in sectors such as manufacturing that traditionally have been less open to them.

Before the virus struck, flexible working arrangements were traditionally the preserve of white-collar industries, with two in five of those in the public administration, education and health sectors making use of them, compared with just one in five in manufacturing. However, a trade union survey analysed by IPPR has indicated this has now rise to one in three, with four in five in the sector reporting changes to their working practices.

The report found that before the pandemic, two in five workers in manufacturing would rather work fewer hours, and one in three continued to take that view if it meant a reduction in pay, suggesting that there would support from staff to adopt more flexible working practices. Working hours in manufacturing are typically between 35 and 44 per week, with just one in ten working part-time.

Analysis by IPPR found that changes to working patterns in manufacturing due to the coronavirus outbreak included introducing more flexible shift patterns to stagger start times or with employees working the same hours but with longer shifts spread over fewer days. Innovation was often driven by a need to ensure staff could adhere to social distancing guidelines, but IPPR report this was both helpful to workers and allowed companies to maintain production output.

Rachel Statham, IPPR Senior Research Fellow and a co-author of the report, said:

The way people work was already changing before Covid-19, but the past few months have shown how far and how fast innovation is possible – fewer hours, more flexible shifts, more flexibility all round.

“And it’s not just people in professional and white-collar jobs working from home; factories and engineering companies across the UK have also been operating differently, in ways that suit their workforce and have been designed with them.

“Even as we continue to support the economy to recover from the pandemic crisis, we need to capture those improvements and learn how to be more responsive to the changing needs of the UK’s workforce, including in manufacturing industries, for the long term.”