|
For Immediate Release
November 15, 2007
WHAT ABOUT 'ME TIME'?
Survey Finds Inquiries About Work/Life Balance More Common During Job
Interviews
MENLO PARK, CA -- More accountants today are
taking time during the job interview to inquire about work/life
balance options, and businesses are responding accordingly. In a
recent survey, 57 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs)
said job candidates are more likely to ask about work/life balance
programs when meeting with prospective employers than they were five
years ago, and 68 percent of financial executives reported
offering accounting staff some form of alternative scheduling
arrangements.
The survey was developed by Robert Half Finance
& Accounting, the world’s first and largest specialized financial
recruitment service. It was conducted by an independent research firm
and is based on interviews with more than 1,400 CFOs from a
stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or
more employees.
CFOs were asked, “When interviewing job
candidates today, are they more or less likely to inquire about
work/life balance programs than five years ago? ” Their responses:
|
More likely
|
|
57%
|
|
No change
|
|
11%
|
|
Less likely
|
|
26%
|
|
Don’t know/no answer
|
|
 6%
|
|
|
|
100%
|
CFOs also were asked to identify which, if any,
scheduling options they offer their accounting staff. The most common
were flexible hours, cited by 51 percent of respondents,
part-time work (27 percent) and job-sharing arrangements (20
percent ).
“As recently as five years ago, it was not as
common for job candidates to inquire about flexible scheduling
options or other alternative work arrangements during interviews,”
said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of
Robert Half International and author of Human Resources Kit For
Dummies®, 2nd Edition (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). “But today
employers anticipate these requests and are designing programs to
accommodate them where possible.”
Messmer pointed out
that while policies must be equitable, a
“one-size-fits-all” approach is not always practical because
different jobs have different levels of inherent flexibility.
“Telecommuting, for example, is often best-suited for professionals
who can work autonomously and do not need to be on hand to directly
supervise other team members or meet with clients or customers.”
Founded in 1948, Robert Half Finance &
Accounting, a division of Robert Half International, has more than
350 locations throughout North America, South America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and offers
online job search services at www.roberthalf.com.
|
