* Flexible work arrangements are an increasingly common measure of attracting and retaining tech employees
Flexible work arrangements are an increasingly common measure of attracting and retaining tech employees, according to the results of a study released earlier this month by Culpepper and Associates.
Culpepper, a compensation benchmarking firm, found that 90% of IT, technology and life science organizations offer flexible work arrangements to employees. By comparison, about 70% of firms offered flexible work arrangements a few years ago. The most common options are flexible work hours and telecommuting.
However, only 11% of all companies offer job sharing, and only 29% offer compressed work weeks. Of companies that don’t offer their workers flexible job arrangements, 60% of them attribute that to difficulty in measuring employee performance.
Professional-level employees are the ones most likely to be able to enjoy flexible worker programs, as cited by 98% of respondents. Only 73% of executives are eligible for flexible work arrangements, and 52% of hourly/non-exempt employees.
Executives tend to believe those staffers who work flexible programs have about the same productivity of other employees. That said, 6% believe telecommuting detracts from productivity, while 69% say it’s about the same and 25% rate the productivity of flex workers as better than employees working traditional schedules.
Employers want to give telecommuters the tools to succeed, so 73% of companies polled offer computer or office equipment. Another 57% pay for or subsidize phone and Internet service. To work from home, though, a broadband connection is a common prerequisite. Some employers also require a dedicated home office and phone line, while 7% require an inspection of the home office to ensure OSHA compliance.
