THE traditional office-day working day may be numbered, according to a new survey from recruitment website NIJobs.com.
It asked HR managers and recruiters from across Northern Ireland to predict the shape of the region's workplace in five years time, with 85 per cent saying they expect more employees to be working remotely or from home,
And they also suggested that working 9-to-5 would become less common in the near future, with 66 per cent predicting more people will have flexible working hours by 2022.
Nobody expects to be working shorter hours, but one in five (19 per cent) expects to be spending more time on the job while 16 per cent said their hours would probably remain the same.
The future of work is one of the main topics of discussion at one of the north's biggest annual events for HR professionals, the Legal Island 2017 Annual Review of Employment Law Conferences, sponsored by NIJobs.com.
The first conference takes place on Thursday November 9 at the Culloden Hotel with the second on November 21 at Belfast's Crown Plaza Hotel.
Sam McIlveen, general manager of NIJobs.com, says: “How we will be working in the future is a topic relevant to us all.
"Over the last few years, the number of jobs that offer flexible working has risen. The next evolution could be a rise in the number of jobs advertised without a location because recruiters are looking for employees to work remotely.
"Technology is making that happen, but so too is the demand for workers for a better work-life balance and a desire to move away from the daily commute.”
Meanwhile findings from the latest salary survey from Brightwater Group have shown that Northern Ireland is a candidate’s market, as employers compete for best-in-class talent.
And the annual survey - based on data taken from 800 respondents including employers and candidates across a range of sectors - points to the fact that companies need to pay to keep their best talent.
“We’ve seen a strong and growing demand for recruitment services, proof of increasing business confidence. As a consequence, there is growing pressure to attract and retain staff,” says Barbara McGrath, managing director of the Brightwater Group.
“Benefit packages and retention of key talent will be the main focus for employers in 2018, so employers are having to rethink and reshape the packages being offered as well as look after key staff who have a wealth of experience and knowledge and who are the leaders of the future.”
