If every business in Ireland offered just one flexible role to their employees, this would result in an average saving of €11,000 per company. This is according to the award-winning company, Employmum, whose estimates are based on offering a flexible position to employees. The savings would come in the form of savings from running an office, insurance costs, heating etc.
This news comes as a major event, run by the Republic of Work took place on the Future of Flexible Work.
Founder of Employmum, Karen O’Reilly, said: “These estimates are based on the 250,000 enterprises in Ireland, each with a potential cost saving of €11,000 and resulting in a total €2.7 billion saving to the Irish economy. Not only this but there would also be the added advantage of saving the planet with 250,000 people less on the road, as they could be working remotely.”
Employmum is joining forces today with forward thinking companies to launch the #FlexIt campaign and outline details of National Flex Day 2019. Employmum are putting out a call for employers across Ireland to sign up to the #FlexIt Campaign and offer at least one flexible role within their organisation. Any company that signs up will be acknowledged on social media as a FlexIt Friendly Workplace and awarded the FlexIt Badge of Approval.
CEO of Republic of Work, DC Cahalane, said ahead of the event: “Businesses these days are starting to realise that employees are more than just cogs in a machine. By creating flexible work opportunities and work environments that really let individuals work at peak productivity, companies are really able to attract the best talent and get the very best work from their employees during their work day.
“The free Future of Work event will showcase how these principles have led to incredible success for companies large and small and give companies interested in embracing a flexible future the right kind of information on where to start.”
Ms O’Reilly added: “Flexible working works, there’s no doubt about it. One of the main things we hear from employers is that they are finding it difficult to obtain and retain quality people. We advise companies to offer some degree of flexibility to reach a wider audience. Flexible work is the future of work and savvy employers are realising this and reaping the benefits. Every employee is different but key to flexibility is trust between the employer and their employees. Flexible working ensures your employees have a healthy work-life balance and it is becoming something that can be a real selling point, as companies compete to attract staff.”
CEO of Contracting Plus, Michael Dineen, said: “By embracing a flexible approach to getting work done, we were able to get an excellent level of expertise, well beyond what we would otherwise. Geraldine who has great experience and expertise, has three kids and works from home, but is also available to come to the office as required.”
Last Thursday, Employmum joined John O’Riordan of Shopify, Shane Evans, Scrapinghub and Tracy Keogh of GrowRemote at the Republic of Work in Cork for The Future of Flexible Work event, which saw an informative panel discussion on the topic of flexible working. The event is being run and hosted by the Republic of Work. The panelists shared details of how flexible working has benefited their work, their employees’ wellbeing and productivity and their experience going from traditional working hours to flexible working hours.
