Warning: there are two working Britains and the gulf between them is growing
27 January 2025A new report from the social enterprise Timewise finds there is a widening gap in the UK workforce, between people working in frontline roles such as nurses, cleaners and bus drivers – and office-based staff -when it comes to having autonomy over working hours. One that it is unlikely to be closed by government’s landmark employment legislation without further measures. Timewise is calling for three new ways in which the UK government can help support employers to implement the legislation, in a move backed by frontline bosses.
According to ‘Ending the Two-Tier Workforce’, the report from social enterprise Timewise, supported by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, frontline workers are missing out on the autonomy, work-life balance, dignity and control, that access to flexible, predictable and secure working patterns offer.
The report looks at ‘flexible hours working’, which is defined by the Office for National Statistics as the ability to vary start and finish times. Over five years, from 2019 – 2024, over 1.3 million more people in higher paid desk-based jobs gained access to flexible hours working (rising to 14 per cent of all desk-based workers), while shift-based workers found their jobs frozen in time. There has been no change in how many shift-based workers have had the ability to vary their start or finish times since 2019 (remaining at 6 per cent, or 200,000 people total).
Furthermore, while 19 per cent of people in higher level managerial and professional positions have access to flexible working hours, just 4 per cent of people in routine occupations enjoy the same.
And while return-to-office mandates are troubling many office-based employees, 40 per cent of workers in the UK need to be onsite in their place of work – and therefore cannot work from home or take advantage of hybrid working to better manage the demands of life and work.
Recently published research for the Healthier Working Lives Commission shows that having a degree of control over work positively impacts on health and leads to improvements in mental wellbeing. While having low or no control at work, is a strong predictor of poorer mental and physical health.
Why the difference matters
10.5 million people work in frontline jobs in the UK, across sectors providing vital services such as health, transport, childcare, freight and logistics, construction and retail5. These are all sectors facing acute recruitment and retention crises as workers reject rigid, inflexible and insecure jobs that leave them unable to balance work and family life, or to manage a health or mental health condition. For example in:
• Construction - 85 per cent construction firms are looking for new staff
• Transport - 76 per cent of firms are looking for new staff
• Childcare - 78 per cent of providers in a recent survey said they are struggling to hire
Government and industry joint action needed – and business leaders are calling for change
The government has promised its new Employment Rights Bill will upgrade workers' rights across the UK, delivering up to £600 income savings for each worker, per year, in the lowest paid, insecure jobs. The predicted wellbeing and health benefits for workers are estimated to accrue of at least £3 billion a year with ‘large economic benefits’ if flexible working is made the default for all.
Timewise’s year-long programme of research with employers, sector bodies and unions, finds proposals are at risk of failing to deliver for the lowest paid workers without the right measures in place, due to a combination of short-term upfront costs for businesses, operational constraints and a lack of cross-industry coordination to tackle specific barriers facing each sector.
Four industry leaders representing a new coalition of employers, unions and sector bodies established by Timewise are calling for immediate action to tackle these barriers and the resulting inequity for workers. They represent frontline workforces employing almost nine million people between them and are backing Timewise’s call for:
1. The Department for Business and Trade to set up new industrial forums bringing together employers, sector bodies and unions, to resolve sector-specific challenges, with the transport & logistics and construction sectors as first priorities for this.
2. A new Modern Working Lives Taskforce to be established and charged with ensuring that the government’s Employment Rights Bill is successfully implemented in low-paying sectors, to narrow the widening gap in the two-tier workforce.
3. Government to provide support for the development of industry-wide sector-specific guidance and best practice models across all low-paying industries.
Clare McNeil, Director at Timewise says:
“All workers should be able to have a degree of control and predictability when it comes to working hours and patterns. But for millions of site-based and shift-based workers, it is impossible to meet essential needs like being able to take time out for a medical appointment, to plan ahead or to manage working hours around a health condition.
“This is creating a two-tier workforce between office-based employees who are increasingly better able to manage the demands of work and life, and the frontline workers who keep our country moving.
“The government’s new employment legislation is a huge opportunity to close this widening gap, but changing the law alone is not enough. New sector-wide partnerships between industry and government are needed to accelerate the pace of change in the workplace and overcome the barriers frontline sectors face. We urge the government to look at these proposals from Timewise and industry leaders as part of the consultation on the Employment Rights Bill and the new independent review of workplace health led by Sir Charlie Mayfield.”
Vivienne Jackson, Programme Manager from abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, which supported the research, says:
“We know workers are happier and more productive when they are allowed to work flexibly. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has found that around four million people have changed careers because of a lack of flexibility at work. For the sake of our essential services, it’s vital that employers are supported to help low paid and shift workers have more flexibility.”
Read the report
According to ‘Ending the Two-Tier Workforce’, the report from social enterprise Timewise, supported by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, frontline workers are missing out on the autonomy, work-life balance, dignity and control, that access to flexible, predictable and secure working patterns offer.
The report looks at ‘flexible hours working’, which is defined by the Office for National Statistics as the ability to vary start and finish times. Over five years, from 2019 – 2024, over 1.3 million more people in higher paid desk-based jobs gained access to flexible hours working (rising to 14 per cent of all desk-based workers), while shift-based workers found their jobs frozen in time. There has been no change in how many shift-based workers have had the ability to vary their start or finish times since 2019 (remaining at 6 per cent, or 200,000 people total).
Furthermore, while 19 per cent of people in higher level managerial and professional positions have access to flexible working hours, just 4 per cent of people in routine occupations enjoy the same.
And while return-to-office mandates are troubling many office-based employees, 40 per cent of workers in the UK need to be onsite in their place of work – and therefore cannot work from home or take advantage of hybrid working to better manage the demands of life and work.
Recently published research for the Healthier Working Lives Commission shows that having a degree of control over work positively impacts on health and leads to improvements in mental wellbeing. While having low or no control at work, is a strong predictor of poorer mental and physical health.
Why the difference matters
10.5 million people work in frontline jobs in the UK, across sectors providing vital services such as health, transport, childcare, freight and logistics, construction and retail5. These are all sectors facing acute recruitment and retention crises as workers reject rigid, inflexible and insecure jobs that leave them unable to balance work and family life, or to manage a health or mental health condition. For example in:
• Construction - 85 per cent construction firms are looking for new staff
• Transport - 76 per cent of firms are looking for new staff
• Childcare - 78 per cent of providers in a recent survey said they are struggling to hire
Government and industry joint action needed – and business leaders are calling for change
The government has promised its new Employment Rights Bill will upgrade workers' rights across the UK, delivering up to £600 income savings for each worker, per year, in the lowest paid, insecure jobs. The predicted wellbeing and health benefits for workers are estimated to accrue of at least £3 billion a year with ‘large economic benefits’ if flexible working is made the default for all.
Timewise’s year-long programme of research with employers, sector bodies and unions, finds proposals are at risk of failing to deliver for the lowest paid workers without the right measures in place, due to a combination of short-term upfront costs for businesses, operational constraints and a lack of cross-industry coordination to tackle specific barriers facing each sector.
Four industry leaders representing a new coalition of employers, unions and sector bodies established by Timewise are calling for immediate action to tackle these barriers and the resulting inequity for workers. They represent frontline workforces employing almost nine million people between them and are backing Timewise’s call for:
1. The Department for Business and Trade to set up new industrial forums bringing together employers, sector bodies and unions, to resolve sector-specific challenges, with the transport & logistics and construction sectors as first priorities for this.
2. A new Modern Working Lives Taskforce to be established and charged with ensuring that the government’s Employment Rights Bill is successfully implemented in low-paying sectors, to narrow the widening gap in the two-tier workforce.
3. Government to provide support for the development of industry-wide sector-specific guidance and best practice models across all low-paying industries.
Clare McNeil, Director at Timewise says:
“All workers should be able to have a degree of control and predictability when it comes to working hours and patterns. But for millions of site-based and shift-based workers, it is impossible to meet essential needs like being able to take time out for a medical appointment, to plan ahead or to manage working hours around a health condition.
“This is creating a two-tier workforce between office-based employees who are increasingly better able to manage the demands of work and life, and the frontline workers who keep our country moving.
“The government’s new employment legislation is a huge opportunity to close this widening gap, but changing the law alone is not enough. New sector-wide partnerships between industry and government are needed to accelerate the pace of change in the workplace and overcome the barriers frontline sectors face. We urge the government to look at these proposals from Timewise and industry leaders as part of the consultation on the Employment Rights Bill and the new independent review of workplace health led by Sir Charlie Mayfield.”
Vivienne Jackson, Programme Manager from abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, which supported the research, says:
“We know workers are happier and more productive when they are allowed to work flexibly. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has found that around four million people have changed careers because of a lack of flexibility at work. For the sake of our essential services, it’s vital that employers are supported to help low paid and shift workers have more flexibility.”
Read the report