The death of the 9-to-5: Only six per cent of Brits work the ‘traditional’ office hours

Traditional workplace hours of 9am to 5pm are now no longer the norm for the majority workers after research showed only six per cent of Brits work such times.

Almost half of people work flexibly with job sharing or compressed hours arrangements, allowing them to take on other commitments, a YouGov survey found.

More than 4,000 adults were surveyed and 37 per cent of full-time workers said they wanted to start work at 8am and finish by 4pm.

The second most popular choice was 7am to 3pm, desired by 21 per cent of those asked, reported the BBC.

The study also found that flexibility was important to all ages and those who did have type of work said it improved their motivation and encouraged them to stay in the job for longer.

Anna Whitehouse, who created the Flex Appeal, aimed at convincing firms to trial flexible working after her request for such was denied by her employer, says there are still misconceptions regarding the changeable hours.

Anna Whitehouse who created the Flex Appeal aimed at convincing firms to trial flexible working

Mrs Whitehouse resigned after work refused her request for 15 minutes flexibility at the start and end of each day so she could take her children to and from nursery.

‘They denied it because they said it would open the floodgates for other people to request the same thing.’

She added: ‘It’s not about parents, it’s about people. There’s so much research out there showing working flexibly is better for mental health and for productivity’.

Peter Cheese, chief executive of HR industry body the CIPD, said flexible working hours attract a higher number of applicants but warned that most firms weren’t taking advantage of this.

‘Uptake of flexible working is still low and most jobs are not advertised as being open to different working arrangements,’ he said.