Flexible working has led to 'two-tier workforce' in UK

Britain is dividing into a two-tier workforce as office staff benefit from flexible working but the conditions of frontline staff such as nurses and shop workers remain "frozen in time", according to a report.

- Joanna Partridge

Workers who were considered to be on the frontline during the pandemic have seen no change to their working hours or shift patterns in recent years, according to research by Timewise, a social enterprise which helps businesses with flexible working policies. This is despite the post-pandemic surge in hybrid working for office-based staff.

As a result, the world of work remains "frozen in time" for people in retail, transport, health and social care and construction, it found, even though they account for about a third of the UK workforce, representing 10.5 million people. Many of these roles involve shift work and are based at a set location, while some are on zero-hours contracts.

"For millions of site-based and shift-based workers, it is impossible to meet needs like being able to take time for a medical appointment or to manage working hours around a health condition," said Clare McNeil, director at Timewise.