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Flexible work once meant adjusting hours, roles and responsibilities to suit people’s needs.
Today, it has been reduced to a single measure–whether someone can work away from the office.
It’s a bastardization of the term that strips it of its true breadth.
Not long ago, flexibility could mean later starts and earlier finishes, part-time work, compressed weeks, job sharing or rosters designed around school terms and caring duties.
It was about shaping work to fit life, not just changing where a laptop was plugged in.
The intention was to make work more accessible, more adaptable and ultimately more sustainable for people at different stages of life.
Yet, ask an employer today if they offer flexible work and many will answer by talking about remote work arrangements.
Workplace flexibility and working from home have all but become one and the same.
For some, this narrowing of focus has been convenient and even popular.
But it has also drained the concept of variety and excluded many from its benefits.
Many jobs simply cannot be done from home–you cannot stock supermarket shelves, drive a bus, repair a burst pipe, teach a classroom full of children or serve coffee to customers without being there in person.
For these workers, the home office is irrelevant and defining flexibility in this way means they miss out entirely.
It’s like offering free parking to those who walk to work.
Even among those who can work remotely, not everyone wants to.
For some, home is a place for family, rest and routines, not spreadsheets and Zoom calls.
Some prefer the structure and discipline of a physical workspace which makes it easier to switch off at the end of the day.
True flexibility should embrace these preferences, not simply swap one fixed arrangement for another.
Yet, in many organizations, the choice has narrowed to a single question: “How many days will you work from home?”
Real flexibility often requires trust, creativity–and ongoing conversation–all of which take time and commitment to get right.
A flexibility gap in our workplaces risks creating tension between those who have the option to work remotely and those who do not.
This divide can erode morale, create resentment and feed the perception that flexibility is a privilege rather than a workplace norm.
It is not that working from home should be scrapped.
For many, it has been a game-changer–offering more time with family, cutting commuting costs and creating space for better work-life balance.
But it should be part of a bigger, more colorful picture.
If flexible work were a wardrobe, remote work would be just one outfit.
Wear it every day and it starts to look tired, while other possibilities gather dust at the back.
Restoring the true meaning of flexible work means pulling those forgotten options into view.
It’s about listening to what employees actually need, not just what’s easiest to manage.
We need to be more flexible about workplace flexibility–willing to rethink not just where people work, but when, how and in what capacity.
Whatever the form, flexibility must be a balance between the needs of employees and the realities of running a business.
Without that balance, arrangements will be short-lived or unsustainable.
By widening the lens, flexibility can once again be what it was meant to be–a genuine, two-way conversation about how work gets done.
Done well, it creates more inclusive workplaces, improves retention, attracts a wider range of talent and ensures that the benefits of flexibility don’t depend on a home internet connection.
Otherwise, we risk turning what was once a creative, people-first approach into a narrow perk that benefits only a select few.
True flexibility should work for everyone–not just those who can take it home with them.