Lack of work flexibility says report

Portugal lags way behind countries like the United Kingdom when it comes to flexible working practices in companies.

And women (75.5%) make up the lion’s share of employees who earn less than €500 per month while high-earners taking home over €3,500 per month are, in the majority, men (78.9%).
These are the conclusions from a major study “FLEX – Flexibility at Work in Portugal” which was produced by Polar Insight in partnership with the Universidade Católica Portuguesa’s Study Centre on Peoples and Cultures of Portuguese Expression which was presented on Tuesday in Lisbon.
Presented as part of the 8th Lisbon Entrepreneurship Week, the study coordinated by Beatriz Renault and Paula Gaia concluded that 61.1% of staff have to work from their company’s work premises and only 21.8% are paid overtime.
Polar Insight, a market research and statistical analysis consultancy revealed that Portugal still has a highly ‘time ticket’ orientated company culture since half of the country’s professionals (48.9%) have a fixed entry and exit time from work.
Furthermore, three out of every four interviewees admitted that it was hard to change these fixed hours even slightly for personal reasons.
“There are already companies in Portugal who are embracing flexibility but changes need to come at the top with company top management who need to be the ambassadors of these new working practices,” says Paula Gaia of Polar Insight.
Gaia said that while there was still a long way to go, the process towards flexibility could be speeded up.
“Over the next 10 years we will see systemic changes in all sectors. Therefore, my advice is to encourage flexible working today in preparation for the future,” says James Tattersfield, founder and CEO of Polar Insight.