Work/life balance key for IT staff

Flexible working is key to staff retention, according to a survey by IT services group Parity.

Almost eight out of 10 professionals indicated that the ability to work flexibly would encourage them to remain in their jobs.

The results have implications for many IT departments which are under increasing pressure to enable flexible working, including giving staff the ability to access corporate systems and applications from home or on the move.

"Functions such as IT need to provide employees with the technology and infrastructure to work remotely, as well as be on hand to support workers even when they are not in the office," said Barbara Greenway, managing director at Parity's training division.

The government introduced the Flexible Working initiative a year ago, which gave employees with young or disabled children the right to request a flexible working pattern.

The Parity survey suggests that the majority of professional workers feel they would benefit from similar opportunities, even if it meant a cut in pay.

Nine out of 10 people claimed that they would be prepared to forfeit up to 40 per cent of their salary for a better work/life balance.

"It appears that the UK is finally catching up with its European counterparts in the value it places on a healthy work/life balance," said Greenway. "Today employees are motivated by more than just the size of their pay cheque."

She added that, although human resources and IT departments would be most affected by the trend, the benefits of flexible working should be promoted across organisations more widely.

"There has to be company-wide understanding and policies outlining how home and flexible working can work for everyone," she explained.

The survey of 76 professional workers was carried out at the Learning Technologies Conference at Olympia in January.