HR Conference 2021: Job Sharing in the 21st Century – the Future of Work?

Headshots of Dawn and Jenny

Dr Dawn H. Nicholson, Senior Lecturer in Business/Organisational Psychology at the University of Kent, and Jenny Varley from Flinkworks, will be sharing their research on job sharing at the HR Conference 2021.

The world of work has changed. People are ready to swap their nine to five jobs for a more agile, purposeful and independent working life. Control over their flexibility and well-being is now the number one priority for job seekers. COVID has exacerbated the speed of that change. But how do employees (and prospective employees) feel about this? A phenomenon dubbed ‘the great resignation’ suggests an unprecedented exodus of employees leaving organisations and turning away from the jobs they held pre-pandemic. How can organisations stem this out flowing of their valuable talent? Research suggests workers are looking for more flexibility in work-life balance post-pandemic, not only in where they work, but how they work.

In this session Dawn and Jenny will discuss the case for job-sharing as a response for this demand for greater flexibility. They will share findings from their recent research examining employees’ thoughts and feelings about their work and careers post-COVID. They will talk specifically about job-sharing, which has historically been underutilised in organisations and workplaces compared to other flexible work arrangements, (e.g. part time/Flexi-time work), for a variety of reasons. Their research suggests job-sharing and numerous variations of it, may be one way to help organisations to attract and retain their talent, including older workers and unlock unrealised productivity.

Come along to the HR Conference 2021 to listen to Dawn and Jenny’s talk and other HR-themed sessions on Wednesday 24 November from 9:30am to 2pm.

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Tickets are priced at £20.

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