Flexibility is everything.

As humans, flexibility is our best asset, and certainly the key to a long and healthy life.

As we grow older, our flexibility is drastically diminished. This leads to physical issues such as arthritis, an increased risk of injury, and a general sensation of stiffness across the body.

But luckily for us, this is neither a certainty nor a fatality.

Through regular work out and exercise, we can train our body to stay healthy and supple, in order to defeat the passage of time.

The same goes for a company. More than an asset, flexibility is essential for the future and well-being of a business. Without flexibility, companies are doomed to get old, outdated and irrelevant, relying on an decrepit way of thinking the work life.

For employers to not improve flexibility is to imprison themselves in a cell of their own making, condemning their business to immobility, stasis, and by extension loosing the race for success.

Flexa - the platform where flexible companies get discovered - just published a new report to celebrate companies embracing flexibility and therefore pioneering the future of work.

A Global Revolution

The report found that London is the most flexible city to work in, and the most flexible industry to work in is SaaS. The analysis also found that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are leading the charge on flexible work. At the same time, large enterprises are becoming increasingly flexible, accounting for more of the top 100 companies listed this year, than last.

To produce the report, researchers at Flexa analysed the benefits, working hours and locations on offer at 190 companies based in over 35 different countries, and then benchmarked them against millions of data points to score the level of flexibility offered by companies.  Scores were cross-referenced against employee feedback. Employers were then indexed and ranked to identify the top 100 most flexible companies to work for, this year.

"It’s not just workers who stand to benefit. Whilst bosses more widely backtrack on flexible working policies (before admitting their mistakes), genuinely flexible employers stand to gain and retain talent - for whom flexible work continues to be a high priority - and ride out the current economic uncertainty successfully." says Molly Johnson-Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Flexa.

The findings come as employers more widely push back on workplace flexibility. This is despite separate research from Flexa showing that flexible working locations continue to be a huge priority for job seekers, with demand for “hybrid” work more than doubling over the last year.

Fabulous Five of Flexibility

The most flexible companies to work for overall are:

  • Locum’s Nest - the “remote-first” health tech where staff set their own working hours
  • Amplifi - a data management consultancy with a “remote-first” working setup
  • GrantTree - the R&D tax and grant specialists where staff work a 4.5-day week
  • Austin International - an international tech recruitment firm whose offices are optional for staff
  • Impression - a hybrid digital and marketing agency offering flexible working hours and family-friendly benefits

Three Tremendous and Tensile Industries

The most flexible sector to work in is SaaS. SaaS companies account for almost a fifth of the top 100 most flexible companies. Finance & Insurance is the second most flexible industry, making up 12% of all companies that made the ranking. The AI & Tech sector came third overall, representing 9% of the flexible employers in the top 100.

In this regard, the top 5 SaaS companies for flexible working are:

  • Storyblok - an international content management startup empowering employees with financial coaching and mental health support

  • Hurree - a marketing and sales analytics tool operating with core working hours

  • Circle - the creator platform where staff work remotely and meet up during company retreats

  • CTS & CloudM - the cloud transformation specialists whose team has unlimited annual leave

  • Tyk - a “remote-first” API-management platform that offers company shutdown periods

The top 5 Finance & Insurance companies are:

  • GrantTree - the R&D tax and grant experts whose employees benefit from enhanced parental leave and adoption leave

  • Paddle - the unicorn Fin-Tech where staff can work whenever and however they want

  • Send Technology - an InsurTech platform whose London office is optional for staff

  • Shieldpay - the B2B payments solution where staff are entitled to unlimited annual leave

  • 9fin - the debt market intelligence company operating with flexible working hours

Davids beating Goliaths: SMEs as figureheads of flexible work

Medium-sized organisations (with between 50 and 249 employees) dominate the list, accounting for more than half of companies on the Flexa 100 overall. Small-sized companies (with fewer than 49 employees) make up 16% of the total list. Overall, SMEs account for 71% of the overall ranking.

The top 5 small-sized companies for flexible working are:

  • Locum’s Nest - the “remote-first” health tech where staff are given a generous wellness budget and training allowance

  • Seatfrog - a travel company that implements company shutdowns to help staff recharge

  • Hurree - the analytics platform where staff work core hours of 10am - 4pm

  • Strengthscope - the company helping build stronger teams provides a wellbeing allowance and compassionate leave to staff

  • Livestock Information - the farming information specialists who have embraced remote work and flexible hours

The top 5 medium-sized companies for flexible working are:

  • Amplifi - a data management consultancy offering enhanced parental leave

  • GrantTree - the R&D tax and grant specialists championing ‘work from anywhere’ schemes

  • Austin International - an international tech recruitment firm giving staff unlimited annual leave

  • Impression - the hybrid digital and marketing experts who are open to part-time employees and job sharing

  • Storyblok - a “remote-first” international content management startup

Stretching Goliaths

Most notably, nearly 1 in 10 of the top 100 most flexible companies employ over 1000 members of staff, bucking the trend for corporates clawing back on flexibility. The most flexible large enterprises include Centrica, Mondelēz International and Microsoft. This marks a staggering 80% increase in the number of large enterprises making the ranking compared to last year, when just 5% of companies listed in the top 100 had more than 1000 employees.

The top 5 large enterprises for flexible working are:

  • Mars UK - the FMCG giant that offers pawternity’ leave and pregnancy loss leave to its over 4000 UK workers

  • Centrica - the British Gas owner enables its over 20,000 employees to work flexible hours

  • Boomi - a cloud-based integration platform who are open to compressed hours and remote work

  • Virgin Media O2 - the hybrid telecommunications company giving their over 16,000 members of staff a range of family-friendly benefits

  • Mondelēz International - the home of Cadbury, Oreo and Ritz offers enhanced parental leave and adoption leave to their 4500+ workers

London offers the greatest availability of flexible work

Over half (56%) of the top 100 most flexible employers are headquartered in London, making the British capital the most flexible city to work in, overall. London-based companies listed include Blood Cancer UK, Moneysupermarket Group and Elvie.

The UK as a whole is also leading the way when it comes to flexible work. Companies headquartered in the UK account for a huge 80% of the companies ranked in the top 100. Other countries represented by the top 100 most flexible companies’ headquarters include the US, Germany, Ireland and France.

60% of companies ranked in the top 100 have additional offices in countries beyond their headquarters. Companies ranked in the top 100 have offices spanning 43 countries in total, including Australia, Italy, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain and Sweden.

The top 5 most flexible companies in London are:

  • Locum’s Nest - the remote-first health tech that comes with an office in Cyprus

  • GrantTree - the R&D tax and grant specialists providing subsidised private healthcare and “pawternity” leave

  • Seatfrog - a travel company enabling staff to work remotely with flexible hours

  • Oliva Health - the employee mental health platform with a “fully remote” working setup and “work from anywhere” scheme

  • SilverRail Technologies - the rail specialists who are flexible on start times and working locations

"It takes dedication, but it is entirely possible for companies of any size to offer employees more choice around ways of working. And employers who embrace flexibility have so much to gain.” addsMolly Johnson-Jones.