More companies leaning toward flexible working hours, says study

MANILA, Philippines — Companies in the Philippines are recognizing that moving away from the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office schedule is better for their businesses, a new global study showed.

The IWG Flexible Working Survey found that in the Philippines, businesses recognized that offering flexible working strategies to their employees provided them with significant benefits such as productivity enhancement, staff retention and job satisfaction, alongside other financial and strategic advantages.

The study covered 18,000 business people from a range of different industries across 96 countries, including the Philippines.

“People from Seattle to Singapore, Philippines to Vietnam no longer need to spend so much time in a particular office,” said Mark Dixon, founder and CEO of IWG, the parent group of leading workspace companies including Regus and Spaces.

“We are entering the era of the mobile workforce and it is hugely exciting. Not just for individual employees, but for businesses too. This is a huge shift in the workspace landscape globally, and businesses are now looking closely at what this means for their corporate real estate portfolios,” Dixon added.

In the Philippines, 93 percent said flexible working helps their business grow.

In addition, 93 percent said that flexible workspace enables employees in their company to be more productive while on the move, while 94 percent believe flexible working helps their business stay competitive.

About 90 percent believe flexible working helps their business maximize profits and 86 percent stated that enabling their company’s employees to work from anywhere helped them attract and retain top talent.

The report said that while the world has understood office-based work to involve a fixed location and a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule for generations, an unprecedented number of businesses are now adopting a very different working model, which produces benefits for them and their workers.

“New technologies mean many of us can now work anytime, anywhere. The challenge for businesses is how to optimize this new landscape. Companies are realizing the benefits of flexible working and its ability to increase productivity, job satisfaction and business performance,” said Lars Wittig, IWG country manager for Regus and Spaces in the Philippines.