Flexible Work Is Key Issue for Opt-Outers and On-Rampers

Last night, I attended an event at Merrill Lynch hosted by Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. It was called the Back in Business Roadshow, and the multi-city tour is meant to appeal to women and men who have stepped off the career treadmill and are looking to step back on.

The panelists painted a fairly rosy picture of all that corporate America is doing to help these workers back into the workforce. Lois Backon of Families & Work Institute flattened us with a slew of statistics about today's workers: 52% are above 30; men and women are almost equally represented; 33% have "significant eldercare responsibilities." Mary MacDonald of Merrill and Anne Weisberg of Deloitte Touche discussed their respective firms' seemingly enlightened approach to "nontraditional" workers (us non-white non-males, I guess). And Bette Rice shared her experiences in the Tuck program.

But one theme kept coming up: flexibility. It's desired by 78% of workers, said Backon, so much so that it's resulted in what she called "reduced aspirations." Consider this: in 1992, 68% of men wanted jobs with more responsibility. In 2007, it's down to 52%. Among women, 57% wanted more responsibility in back then; 36% do now.

What does that mean? What about all the talk about the growth of extreme work--take Stephanie Armour's article on workaholism today in USA Today, or Sylvia Ann Hewlett's latest book, Off-Ramps and On-Ramps (she coined the term "extreme work" in the study the book is based on)? Is the extreme-worker phenomenon garbage?

I argue: yes. My generation doesn't want to work more just for the sake of working more. Sure, there are people like my brother-in-law, who logs 80-hour weeks and jets off to London and L.A. for red-eye meetings. Then again, he's got five mouths to feed (four kids, plus my sister, who packs away a lot of sugary cereal for a skinny chick).

Between us, my job and my husband's pay just enough to support our family. I have no desire right now to take on more responsibility for the pay or status or whatever; what I want is to do what I do and do it well, then get home to feed my kid her peas and rice.

Tuck conducted a survey that found a lot of people feel the same way. Many corporate types want to step off that hamster wheel altogether, if only for a break. Here, some findings:

KEY FINDING: People who consider taking career breaks and who want more flexibility aren't an aberration but instead reflect a broader overall shift in the traditional model of workday arrangements and a linear career path—particularly among Gen Xers as compared to Baby Boomers.

63% of respondents said they would consider leaving the workplace for a period of time—a majority of both men (58%) and women (68%).

Younger workers (26–41 years old) are the most likely to say they would consider taking a career break (70%).

The primary reasons for desiring to leave the workforce for a period of time were parenthood (63%), an avocation/life outside of work (43%), stress/burnout (37%), and entrepreneurship (35%).

KEY FINDING: Employees look to a host of options to break the traditional workday arrangement and career path model. When asked how they would improve their current work situation, the most cited requests included:

28% of respondents want more day-to-day informal flexibility, and younger employees (26–41 years old) are most likely to want this flexibility (32%).

20% would like the flexibility to telecommute, and younger employees (26–41 years old) are most likely to want this flexibility (25%).

17% suggest that project-based consulting work would improve their current work situation.

For 14%, a reduced schedule would improve their current work situation.