Flexible Working Deflates the “Carmageddon” Hysteria

How was your commute today?  That is a question predominantly aimed at all of my Auckland readership.  If the hysteria being whipped up by the media around the Auckland bus strike is anything to go by, I’m assuming many of you will be reading today’s blog post from your car, stuck in complete gridlock on one of Auckland’s arterial routes.

No?

But surely it must be the case… If the NZ Herald sees fit to publish rolling coverage of “Carmageddon” it must be bad out there.  Certainly there is revolution in the air among the bus drivers:

“One driver has gone rogue and has started throwing eggs at company management heading through the picket to work.”

This is revolutionary stuff, industrial action on a scale barely imaginable and bringing this fine city to its knees.  Or so the media want you to believe.  But I recently sailed into work under the harbour bridge (on a very packed ferry) and saw nothing but free-flowing traffic.  How odd.

And then this:

Followed by this:

I was expecting to write today’s blog about how all the talk of “flexible working” and remote access to cloud computing systems can hardly be happening.  But maybe it is, after all.  Because despite the media’s best efforts, it seems like many Aucklanders have managed just fine without the buses today.

Hands up if you’re in recruitment, and have the option to work flexibly?  Other hand up if you’ve taken advantage of that today?  Now put your hands down, your neighbours really don’t need to see your armpits.

Flexible working for recruiters should be an absolute given, in my opinion.  Clearly I’m biased, having nailed our colours to this particular mast with our own virtualRPO recruitment model.  But seriously, if you’re working for an employer who requires you to be at your desk from 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday regardless of your activity levels and billings – you need to think hard about where your career is going.

As this interesting LinkedIn post suggests, the “gig” economy that is being championed by companies like Uber means that even “flexible working” is starting to look constrictive.  If you have skills that are in demand (as we recruiters do, currently) then you should be able to apply your skills wherever and whenever you wish.  Fanciful thinking, for sure, and a step way too far for many recruitment agencies, but food for thought I would hope.

Finally for today, I’d like to announce the opening of our new Wellington office next week.  We are delighted and privileged to be welcoming Wendy Alexander to our team.  If you’re a Wellington recruiter or HR pro where this post has struck a chord, please do let us know, Wendy would love to hear from you!

OK, that’s more than enough plugging for one blog post, have an awesome Friday everyone and Aucklanders:  drive safe 🙂