22 October 2026, London, UK – New research from global talent solutions partner Robert Walters’ Employee Benefits Guide finds that 42% of female professionals say they’d start looking for a new job if their flexibility was reduced, compared to just 34% of men.
As employers across the UK announce more return-to-office mandates, dissatisfaction amongst female professionals is rising, highlighting an issue employers must immediately address.
Habiba Khatoon, Director – Midlands at Robert Walters comments: “Flexible working has become an expected part of the employment deal for many professionals, particularly women. Yet our findings highlight a disparity, while women place a greater value on flexible working, they are more likely to view current policies as unfair, experience tighter restrictions, and become dissatisfied when it is reduced.”
Almost a quarter (24%) of UK professionals report that their employer has increased their number of required office days in the past 12 months. Among this group, dissatisfaction rates rose significantly for women (39%) compared to their male counterparts (27%).
This is unsurprising considering how much female professionals value flexible working, with 72% ranking it as ‘highly important’ versus just 49% of men. Indeed, 70% of women whose employer expects them to go into the office two to three days a week say they are satisfied with their flexible working policy. This drops to less than a third (29%) for those expected in five days a week.
“Employers may view flexible working as another policy decision, but it can have a significant impact on an employee’s overall experience at work.”
Habiba Khatoon, Director – Midlands, Robert Walters
While this can appear more pronounced for women, the research shows a similar trend across all demographics, with three days in office representing a ‘sweet spot’ for lower dissatisfaction with flexible working policies.
Nearly one in five women (19%) disagree that their employer's flexible working policy is applied fairly, compared to 14% of men. Male professionals are also more likely to have full freedom to choose their office days (46% vs. 40%), while women are more frequently given fixed or assigned office days (28% vs. 21%).
This is despite women valuing more flexibility around personal responsibilities (18% vs. 13%) and start/finish times (20% vs. 13%).
“Throughout a woman’s career, common life stages such as motherhood and menopause will require greater flexibility at work. These inequalities may seem subtle, but when viewed together we see a trend developing where women are often given less autonomy over their working week, leading them to feel policies aren’t as fair or representative,” adds Habiba.
Many women are creating workarounds to shortfalls in flexibility: over half (51%) say they have informal flexibility or hybrid agreements with their line manager.
“Professionals shouldn’t feel that their hybrid working requirements could come at the cost of their future in a company, nor should it mean that employers lose key talent or increase disengagement.
“The good news for leaders is that small changes can make a big difference. Tweaking existing policies to allow teams to agree their own office days, introducing flexible start and finish times, and giving managers more freedom to accommodate individual circumstances can all help maintain expectations around in-person collaboration and office presence across a workforce. At the same time, employees are handed more independence in how they fulfil their responsibilities,” Habiba concludes.
Notes to editors
Just 15% of UK white-collar professionals expected to attend the office three days a week report being dissatisfied with their current flexible working policy. This increases to 43% for those expected to be in between four and five days each week.
Robert Walters’ Employee Benefits Guide surveyed 3,100 white-collar professionals across the UK and Ireland to gauge the current state of workplace benefits.
About Robert Walters
With more than 2,900 people in 29 countries, Robert Walters delivers recruitment consultancy, staffing, recruitment process outsourcing and managed services across the globe.
