Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka powers up flexible job matching site to bring accessible flex working once and for all
I’m a working mum. I have been a working mum for over 15 years. But it’s never been easy.
I was on maternity leave from my role as a Marketing Director with my son when I was made redundant. It was incredibly traumatic for me on many levels and the impact of being at home breast feeding my son to receive a special delivery letter telling me I would not be returning to a job I loved will never leave me. I stood up and fought for my rights and I won my unfair dismissal and discrimination claim.
I’ve navigated working parenthood by being self employed, contracting with expensive child care, grandparent back up and more recently with a lovely independent marketing agency. I’ve always worked in marketing, social media and digital marketing but only have I enjoyed truly flexible working as a bi-product of the Covid lockdowns. It feels like it took many decades and a Pandemic to get to this point. This point in time being where flexible working is integral part of employment. New things are on the horizon for me now and I’m excited to be starting a new job next month with a hybrid flexible approach to work back with a large corporate employer. I’m really pleased to be able to keep working, learning and developing and also be able to share my knowledge and experience with others.
I’m passionate about keeping working mums, dads – all working parents in the workforce. It is a tragedy to lose these skills and experience so I am delighted to see a new flexible working job site, WorkYourWay, officially launch to match people with their dream flexible working roles across the globe.
Dubbed ‘Tinder for Flex, ’ WorkYourWay is underpinned by a unique ‘flexibase’ algorithm that generates percentage scores for roles and candidates to help them to find their perfect flex match. The new site aims to bring total transparency to a job market filled with smoke and mirrors when it comes to flex.
The brainchild of both Tim Grimes and Anna Whitehouse, aka Mother Pukka, WorkYourWay has been designed to help companies fill roles that are sitting empty by bringing to life the flexible working policy that underpins every company and every role across all industries. Research has shown that 9 in 10 (87%) people want to work flexibly, yet just 1 in 4 jobs advertise flexible working today.
Last year Anna Whitehouse and Sir Robert McAlpine released a new ‘Flexonomics report’ which revealed that flexible working is worth £37bn to the economy. A 50% increase in flexible working rates could result in a net economic gain of £55bn. The current economic challenges this could support are endless.
Tim Grimes, Co-Founder of WorkYourWay, comments, “We want to breathe transparency into job hunting for flex. For the people who are looking for flex and for the companies that are hiring. It’s no longer an optional extra, it’s essential for most people, and yet the majority of roles don’t mention flexible working at all in their advertising. Often the company does offer flexible working, but for some reason or another, they haven’t put it in the advert. We want to change all of this, to shift the power dynamic and make flex a level playing field for all. If you have the flex that candidates are looking for, you’ll get your match, and vice versa.’
The new site is live, and hundreds of companies are already listed. Candidates can search the site for flex-forward companies and jobs, filtering from 23 options to find their dream flex. Filters include; working patterns, workload, workplace and life events, enabling candidates to provide total clarity on their work-life arrangement before applying for the role.
Anna Whitehouse, Broadcaster and Founder of Flex Appeal, comments, “For decades, we have all kept our lives and struggles secret, desperately trying to work around an archaic 9-5 pm work day that dials right back to the Industrial Revolution. Now it’s time for change; enough is enough. WorkYourWay is our grassroots movement to bring all companies into the 21st century with a truly flexible job search for candidates. This is for everyone who has been denied flexible working and those desperately seeking – the power is shifting – and we’re making flexible working the norm, not the special request for job hunters today.”
Unemployment has peaked at 3.5% this August, and yet simultaneously there are 1.3 million jobs that are vacant. Millions of people who could contribute their skills to the recovery are facing barriers from outdated work contexts and cultures. WorkYourWay is tackling this head on, removing the awkward first-date interview question and revealing all to both parties from the get go.
Anna continues, “Flexible working isn’t just for mums or dads. It’s for everyone. And Tim and I have come together to launch a job-matching solution that will truly change how we work. If companies are serious about inclusivity and diversity in the workplace and want to play their role in closing the gender pay gap, they will join our fight for change, one job at a time. We’re bringing jobs to the market with a side of Flex Appeal.”
Head to WorkYourWay to find out more.
