Predictors of flexible working arrangement provision in small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

SMEs comprise 99.7% of all private sector businesses in Australia and employ 70% of the private sector workforce. They are therefore important to policies on flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The provision of FWAs has been found to usually contribute positively to employee well-being and business performance. However, the majority of studies focus on large firms and it is unclear whether these associations apply equally to SMEs. Using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Longitudinal database for 2007–2011(n = 2788), this study investigates the extent to which factors such as firm size, industry sector, terms of employment, employees’ skills and use of the internet at work affect the provision of FWAs in SMEs. The findings show that smaller businesses are constrained by resources to provide FWAs, but do so in pursuit of industry norms and/or as a result of the profile of their employees. It is also easier to provide FWAs in certain industries than in others and use of the internet facilitates the provision of FWAs.

Keywords:

• flexible working arrangements
• human resource management
• productivity
• SME
• skills
• telecommuting
• work–life balance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Unit refers to the extent to which each independent variable measured on a binary scale or log10 predicts the propensity to provide a FWA also measured on a binary scale. Note that the unit is very small when considered in relation to the maximum values of the dependent and independent variables in Appendix 1.