FlexiBees, which was started in 2017 by 3 IIM Bangalore batchmates, to solve the problem of the low and declining female labour force participation rate (LFPR), focuses on how ‘flexibility’ works best for women and offers career opportunities for them, which provides good earnings and other monetary benefits. To confirm the hypothesis of flexi hours, founders of FlexiBees, Rashmi Rammohan, Shreya Prakash, and Deepa Narayanaswamy, recently conducted a survey to explore the untapped potential of historically disadvantaged talent pools such as women, to enable them to work on their terms in the hours and locations as they see fit. The survey focused on two main categories of respondents: 1) Women currently in flexible jobs — the base size of 57, and 2) Women who are not currently working but are in search of flexible jobs — the base size of 100.
Some of the findings of the survey:
1. Women who were in flexible roles were more confident in their abilities and skills, in the role they played for their families and communities, in expressing their opinions and making their voice matter, while also being good role models for their children.
2. Flexible jobs supplemented household income by 22% for these women, while 20% of the respondents said their household income increased in the range of 25-50% despite women's contribution to India's GDP being at 17%.
3. Survey also confirmed the science behind flexible jobs and a better career as a majority of the women professionals agreed that they are more comfortable with workable conditions wherein they can balance their responsibilities.
4. The survey revealed that most companies are interested in flexible hiring and looking forward to practising it in a much more regular manner. According to the survey, 51% of the roles in the last year in the companies surveyed were flexible ones. At the same time, 74% and 50% of companies surveyed had flexible talent in roles in mid/senior, and junior levels respectively. Fifty-six percent of the companies have also planned to adopt flexible working policies that range across HR, hybrid working, technology infrastructure.
5. Companies also saw their time being saved due to faster hiring, agility in responding to a business need, and less need to train due to experienced talent with good work ethic.
6. The survey recommits to the idea that experienced women professionals, who are keen to restart working, bring with them high commitment and professionalism.
7. Ability to work: For many women, it is still quite difficult to outsource their non-work responsibilities, and hence the traditional structure of work is exclusionary thus workplace flexibility in various forms is beneficial to them.
8. Access to better opportunities without geographical obstacles: Due to evolving technology, geographical distances are a thing of the past and thus women working in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, who make up 30% of the consultancy force, are beyond just the top 10 metros.
9. Flexible jobs help to maintain balance and happiness. If employers want to adapt to changing times, it's high time they integrate flexibility in the workplace.
