Half of graduates discard non-hybrid jobs, study reveals

Half (49 percent) of graduates would not consider applying for jobs that require them to be on the job five days a week, a study has revealed.

Research by the International Workplace Group, which interviewed more than 1,000 final year university students and recent graduates looking for work, also found that a fifth (18 per cent) would have to seriously reconsider applying for roles that did not offer flexible working.

As a result, employers that required full-time in-person presence were left with just 33% of the graduate talent pool to recruit from.

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One of the biggest impediments to working in the office five days a week is the time and costs associated with commuting, according to research; A significant 83 percent of graduates listed this as their top concern, noting that hybrid work offered a benefit equivalent to a 13 percent salary increase due to savings on travel and accommodation.

“There is definitely a clear shift in expectations for today’s graduates entering the workforce,” said Sarah Archer, founder of CareerTree Coaching. People Management. “The pandemic has accelerated the normalization of flexible working and it is clear that this generation now sees hybrid working not as an advantage, but as a standard expectation.”

Bryony Williams, founder of HR consultancy The Glass Female, said People Management: “This trend isn’t just about convenience – it reflects a broader narrative about how we view mixing life and work now. The pandemic encouraged a reassessment of priorities, with many realizing that they could achieve high productivity and autonomy with remote work.”

Williams added that he has witnessed the impact flexibility can have on recruiting: “I recently coached a candidate who was hesitant between two roles. The first company offered work from home one day a week, but wanted the candidate to work from home on the same day as the manager, demonstrating no flexibility.”

Despite the company offering more money and responsibility, the candidate chose another role with better flexibility. “This is how flexible working became desirable,” Williams said.

Clare Kelliher, professor of work and organization at Cranfield School of Management, said employers need to take these figures “seriously” if they want to attract top talent. “Not offering the opportunity to work from home, at least for some time, may hinder the ability to recruit quality staff,” she said. People Management.

However, Kelliher also highlighted that expectations vary depending on the type of work and industry, as well as factors such as the length of the commute.

While they were found to value hybrid work, three-quarters (74 percent) cited competitive pay as their top priority, but three in five (62 percent) said hybrid work was their most important consideration. They said it was more significant than workplace culture (53 percent), access to health insurance (25 percent) and a strong pension plan (21 percent).

Despite this, the research found that almost two-thirds (63 percent) of respondents agreed that spending time in the office was necessary for effective teamwork and learning from more experienced colleagues.

Liz Sebag-Montefiore, director and co-founder of 10Eighty, said People Management that employers needed to be “clear about where and when they expect employees to work and ensure that managers are there when juniors need their support”.

She highlighted that graduates would need help to “develop the capabilities and confidence to manage workload, prioritize responsibilities and navigate the policies and procedures of the modern workplace” and would therefore need opportunities to collaborate in person and remotely.

“That said, the flexibility offered by hybrid work makes recent graduates feel trusted and valued by their employer; they appreciate the freedom to set their work hours, while the division of office and home work allows them to focus on getting things done when they need to, rather than constantly dealing with a busy office environment,” added Sebag-Montefiore .

Kelliher advised companies to think carefully about the opportunities that exist for working from home in each job so they can be discussed at the recruitment stage. However, he added: “In some cases, working from home is not viable and the reasons for this should be explained to candidates.

“Offering better pay to reflect the cost of commuting is unlikely to be a long-term solution and could create disagreements between employees. Instead, it’s important to help people understand why they need to be in the workplace, along with highlighting what they can gain from it.”

There are more resources on flexible and hybrid working available at CIPD website