Itchy Feet of the British Worker

Mintel's latest research into working patterns in the UK underlines the decline of the 'job for life' and charts the steady growth of flexitime and homeworking. A third of British workers (c.10m people) have been in their jobs for less than two years, and a sixth less than one year.

Younger workers are moving more often. More than 10% of 25-34 year olds have had four or more employers during the past five years compared to just 3% of those aged 55+. The great majority of workers aged 55-64 have had just one employer for their whole working life. Almost one in three 25-34 year olds are thinking about moving in the next twelve months, whereas those aged 44+ are far less likely to change.

Money is the prime motivation for almost half those who are looking for a new job (especially among men), but almost as many are motivated by the desire for a new challenge - more likely to be women. Just over a quarter also felt that they would like a change in career direction.

Flexible working arrangements such as flexi-time, working from home, job sharing and career breaks are offered by employers responsible for around half the workforce, who see them as a means of improving improve employee commitment and staff morale, reducing staff turnover and absenteeism. Flexitime and homeworking are popular, with four out of every five eligible workers opting to take advantage of these benefits. This means that among the total working population around a third work flexible hours and one in ten work from or at home. Unsurprisingly it is women who are more likely than men to take advantage of these flexible working arrangements.

Temporary work and part-time work are also more common, with a record 7 million people working part-time - almost a quarter of UK workers. Women are almost seven times as likely as men to be in part time employment, while men are more than twice as likely as women to be in full time employment.

The results also highlight the problem of pensions, increasingly the responsibility of the individual. Today less than half of those in work claim that their company offers a pension that the company itself pays into. A significant minority of these - 20% - do not take advantage of the scheme offered. Fully one third of respondents now feel that they will have to work right up to or beyond the official state retirement age in order to fund their retirement.

'This is quite a depressing prospect' comments Paul Davies, Senior Finance Analyst at Mintel International, 'but does show that people are now simply giving up on state pensions and are facing up to the harsh reality of being forced to work for longer than they wish to provide for their retirement. It seems that the message about the pensions time bomb is starting to get through'.

Changing Work Patterns is available from Mintel, price: £1100. More details of the company are at www.mintel.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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