Flexible working

Flexible working challenges can include:

Flexible working is not offered to all employees, creating perceptions of unfairness across the organization.
We’re finding it hard to attract and retain talent.
We have mixed views on hybrid working.
Managers don’t have the “will or skill” to manage flexibility in the workplace.

We’re looking to reduce office costs.
Absenteeism is higher than expected.
We are uncertain what skills are needed to redesign jobs for success in a new hybrid environment.

Flexible work is employees’ #2 most-cited reason for thriving at work.

Global Talent Trends 2026

Inclusive flexibility in the workplace is imperative

All jobs can flex, which means organizations can adopt a broader view of flexibility to offer a strategy that benefits everyone, not just those who work remotely.

Maximizing productivity in a flexible work environment requires examining work and considering employee choice. Organizations need to ensure their approach is sustainable, which requires examining people programs and infrastructure.

39%

of executives expect significant return on investment (ROI) from updating flexible work policies.

57%

of employees say flexible working helps them thrive at work.

56%

of employees would give up a 10% pay raise for a fully flexible or compressed work schedule.

Mercer’s approach to flexible working

We bring a full suite of solutions to help clients deliver on the value of flexible working at scale. We do this through:

Delivering value

We equip clients with a strategy and roadmap for sustainable execution to ensure they achieve the value of flexible working.
Using a proven methodology

We have a structured and tested approach to drive decisions on complex issues.
Our depth of experience

We bring expertise across talent, mobility, transformation, health and well-being, ergonomics, risk, cybersecurity, and compliance to support clients with any issue.

Three critical questions to drive flexible working at scale:

What flexibility is possible?
What flexibility is desirable?
What flexibility is sustainable?

Creating a flexible working strategy

Leading flexible work design practices start with examining the work to determine what type of flexibility is possible and how the job is best performed to maximize productivity and outcomes. We work with clients to define flexible work strategies through a four-step process:

A successful flexible working design starts with establishing the strategic vision for the work and developing guiding principles for the design.

There are three critical questions to address:

What’s possible? Evaluate the capacity for jobs to flex across multiple dimensions.
What’s desirable? Collect leader and employee insights on flexible working.
What’s sustainable? Assess people programs for readiness to support flexible working at scale.

A successful strategy articulates not only what type of flexibility will be offered but also how it will be executed and governed throughout the organization to deliver a compelling and consistent employee experience.

Flexibility is more than a policy and must be woven into the fabric of the organization. This involves identifying the barriers and enablers of the change and aligning programs accordingly.

Explore flexible work options