Career flexibility: It’s more than just choosing a time and place to work

It’s still early in the new year, a time when leaders often consider what the future holds for their organizations. And new research is giving leaders a lot to think about as they examine their talent needs. Workers’ desire—and demand—for flexibility has gotten a lot of attention, but the definition of flexibility is now expanding.

A new study shows that people don’t just want flexibility in when and where they work—they also crave flexibility in their career paths within their organizations. Other research shows the importance of an organization’s culture and its ability to include flexibility in its talent strategy.

Rethinking flexibility

Human resources software provider Ceridian recently released a report titled “2023 Pulse of Talent: The rise of the flexible career experience,” which is the result of a survey of more than 8,800 workers from around the world. Flexibility and work-life balance were cited by 49% of respondents as among the most valued attributes in a job.

Flexibility was shown to be especially important to respondents aged 18 to 24, since 44% rated flexibility as the job attribute they most value. Just 41% rated compensation as the top attribute.

The survey showed that workers want more than just the traditional meaning of flexibility. They also want the ability to forge new paths. The Ceridian research found that 90% of survey respondents said they have felt stuck in their role over the past year, and one-third said they feel stuck often or always.