More flexible ways of working are an inevitable outcome of demographic and technological change.

For those in permanent employment, flexible working practices will increase such as part-time/flexi-time and job sharing. But forward-thinking businesses will also embrace other, non-traditional employment practices such as sabbaticals, self-rostering allowing workers to nominate preferred hours, and term-time working where employees can take paid (or unpaid) leave during school holidays.

Not only the hours of the working day will change. Significant improvements in telecommunications are already making home working/teleworking a reality for millions. While such flexibility may be welcomed in many quarters, the implication is that work becomes an “any time, anywhere” activity (as many users of PDA devices will readily testify!).

Working on a temporary and contract basis will increasingly be perceived as a lifestyle choice and the difference between a permanent and a temporary job will be almost indiscernible as average job tenure decreases. New entrants to the labour market, Generation X and Generation Y, regard work more as a contract and less as a career. Employers are already discovering that the concept of work does not fit the same central role for younger workers as it did their predecessors.

Accommodating the diverse working requirements of highly skilled and highly valued employees will be an essential component of future recruitment policies. Getting ahead means getting flexible.