Flexible Work

The Opportunity

Flexibility is one of the highest-return, lowest-cost levers available to employers. Organizations that build genuine flexibility into how work is structured, not just where it happens, retain caregivers, reduce absenteeism, and compete more effectively for experienced talent. This pillar is not about remote work. It is about whether the structure of work fits the reality of people's lives.

The Business Case

Hybrid working improves retention without damaging performance, according to a 2024 study published in Nature.⁵ Forty-seven percent of workers report staying in a job specifically because of a flexible work arrangement.⁶ Flexible scheduling is the second-highest driver of attracting top talent according to Bank of America's 2025 Workplace Benefits Report.⁷

In 2025, roughly half a million women exited the U.S. workforce. Forty-two percent cited caregiving responsibilities as the primary reason. Thirty-seven percent said their employer did not offer flexible scheduling.³ These are not women who chose to leave. These are women whose work structure made staying impossible.

What the Research Shows

Six in ten employees are caregivers.⁴ Caregiving is not a niche circumstance. It is the dominant reality of the workforce. Women are significantly more likely than men to be the primary caregiver for both children and aging adults.¹ Among parents with children under 13, 36 percent of women are not working for pay compared to 17 percent of men.² The gap is not explained by preference. It is explained by a work structure that was designed around someone who has someone else managing their home.

Flexibility that exists on paper but cannot be used without damaging a career is not flexibility. The Institute for Women's Policy Research found no evidence that flexible or remote work reduces productivity, and substantial evidence of positive impacts on wellbeing and retention.⁸

What Good Looks Like

Good represents accessible baseline practices. Better reflects more intentional investment. Best describes what the most forward-thinking companies are doing right now.

Questions Worth Asking

• Can an employee leave for a school emergency without it becoming a performance conversation?
• Do our managers model flexibility themselves or quietly signal that using it is a risk?
• Are flexible arrangements available to employees at all levels or primarily to senior staff?
• Do we have any mandatory meeting windows that make caregiving structurally difficult?
• Has anyone reviewed whether our flexibility policies are actually being used, and by whom?