Permanent WFH is the key to retaining working parents

Working parents don’t want to go back into the office— they want employers to make it easier for them to stay out of it.

Sixty-one percent of parents say they want to work remotely full-time and 37% prefer a hybrid work arrangement — rating childcare and flexibility as the leading reasons behind their decision, according to a study by Flexjobs, a job search and career coaching site. Should work from home options not be made available, 62% are prepared to quit their current job.

“The positive impact from the flexibility that comes from working remotely can't be overstated,” says Brie Reynolds, career development manager and coach at FlexJobs. “Working remotely gives you more control over your daily life, allowing parents not only to better care for children, but to care for themselves and their mental and physical health as well.”

Read more: 5 Ways to support working parents post-COVID

About 10 million mothers living with their school-age children were unemployed in January, roughly 1.4 million more than in the same period last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The spike has been closely linked to states where schools are offering remote instruction, according to research from Gender and Society, a peer-reviewed academic journal.

But even with schools slated to reopen in September, that’s onlypart of the equation, according to Reynolds. Additional obstacles parents face include the continued closure or limitation of before-and-after school programs outside school hours and a lack of safe and reliable childcare during work hours.

“They're making it work but it's taking a toll,” she says. “Many parents see the return to school and more childcare options simply as a way for them to start caring for themselves again, improve their mental and physical health and reduce the burnout they've been carrying.”

In an effort to sweeten the deal for their employers, working parents have even conceded to giving up benefits as a compromise if they can work from home — 19% offered to take a 10% pay cut, 23% are willing to sacrifice vacation time and 17% agreed to work more hours, the survey shows.

Flexible daily start and end times, time-banking — working more one week and less the next — and offering split shifts are a few new benefits employers could offer to support their parental employee base, Reynolds says.

Read more: Working parents are in the dark about child care benefits

Companies have even begun adopting more unconventional childcare options to their benefits offerings — Homework Helper, a virtual childcare solution, saw a significant uptick in HR enrollment since the beginning of the pandemic.

It's anticipated that working parents will get their way — 82% of middle-market CEOs say they are likely to allow for a partially remote workforce even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over and 66% of employers globally are redesigning their workplaces to accommodate a hybrid work schedule, according to the latest CEO survey from Marcum and Hofstra University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business.

“The majority of all professionals, not just working parents, are interested in remote work at least some of the time,” Reynolds says. “Companies that embrace remote work and brand themselves as remote-friendly workplaces will fare far better in recruitment and retention in the coming years.”