The report has found that startups and scale-ups are the most flexible companies to work for, but larger companies are getting better at offering flexible working. SaaS and HR companies are leading the charge when it comes to offering flexible working to staff.

Produced by the global directory of verified flexible companies Flexa Careers, the report aims to celebrate and showcase the most progressive, flexible companies that talent can find. 

It comes as demand for flexible working soars. According to Flexa’s data, the number of job seekers expressing a preference for ‘remote-first’ roles (where staff spend most but not all of their time working remotely) more than tripled between January 2022 and December 2022. During the same period, the number of workers expressing a preference for roles with ‘fully flexible’ working hours increased by 23%.

To produce the report and determine which companies offer the most flexibility to staff, researchers at Flexa analysed company benefits, working hours and the working locations on offer at 180 companies in 70 countries. Hundreds of thousands of data points were analysed to give companies a fair and accurate rank and score, including whether companies support fully-remote, hybrid, and/or office-based work, for example. If companies scored over 50% (above average), a sample of employees relative to the size of each company - over 3,000 workers in total - were surveyed to assess employee satisfaction. 

Flexa’s empirical measure of flexibility is the first of its kind, and this year’s Flexa100 report reveals key insights into 2023’s most flexible workplaces as demand for flexible working skyrockets. 

Key findings:

The most flexible companies to work for globally are:

1. Locum’s Nest - the remote-first health tech that comes with an office in Cyprus 
2. Boldly - a subscription staffing startup that offers enhanced parental leave
3. Prolific - a digital research platform where every other Friday is a ‘wellness’ day off
4. (Joint ranking)
   1. FourthRev - the fully-remote ed tech whose staff are based all over the world
   2. Tyk - a software development scale-up that comes with team building holidays

6. Filtered - provides L&D software for corporates, and shared parental leave for staff

Key trends

Startups (companies with less than 100 employees) and scale-ups (companies with no more than 300 employees) dominate the list, accounting for the top ten most flexible workplaces globally, as well as a staggering 81% of the list overall. Startups represent over half (54%) of the overall list. 

Larger companies (with 1000 or more employees) also rank higher in the report than ever before. TELUS International was the top ranking large company this year and last, and moved up from 44th place in 2022, to 13th in 2023: the highest a company with over 1000 staff has ever placed in the report. 

The most flexible sector to work in is SaaS - accounting for almost over a quarter (26%) of companies in the Flexa100. HR & Recruitment is the second most flexible sector, accounting for the second place on the list, as well as 14% of the overall list.

The top 3 large companies for flexible working

1. TELUS International - a fully-remote, global data solutions company with more than 25,000 employees
2. Virgin Media O2 - the telecommunications company that comes with enhanced parental leave and adoption leave, with ~10,000 employees 
3. Mars UK - the well-known FMCG that offers pawternity’ leave and pregnancy loss leave to its 41,000+ employees

The top 3 SaaS companies for flexible working

1. Tyk - placing 5th overall, the API platform is the most flexible SaaS company on the list
2. Filtered - ranked 6th overall, the scale-up is the second most flexible SaaS company
3. (Joint ranking)
   1. Whereby - a Norwegian video meeting platform that offers unlimited annual leave 
   2. ScreenCloud - a tech scale-up trailblazing fertility leave and adoption leave

5. Paddle - the unicorn Fin-Tech championing ‘working from anywhere’

The top 3 HR & Recruitment companies 

1. Boldly - having placed 2nd overall, the startup tops HR & Recruitment companies, too
2. Fika - a remote-first HR-Tech that gives staff a budget for co-working spaces
3. Austin International - Tech recruitment specialists who are open to sabbaticals 

Molly Johnson-Jones, co-founder and CEO of Flexa comments:

“Flexible working is no longer a ‘nice to have’. For the near-three quarters of a million job seekers using Flexa alone, flexible working has become a ‘must have’. Since last year’s report, we’re increasingly seeing this reflected in policy making, with new and soon-to-be laws recognising that flexible work is now firmly a part of the mainstream, and that it’s here to stay. In the last few months alone, employers have moved to make the 4-day working week a permanent fixture, and policymakers have progressed bills to enshrine shorter working weeks in law and give all employees the right to request flexible work from their first day of employment. Rafts of progressive companies have known the importance of flexible working for some time. 2023’s Flexa100 is a testament to them. 

“Startups are still leading the way when it comes to flexible work. But one of the most promising trends to emerge from this year’s report is that larger companies are ranking higher than ever before. The myth that it’s not possible to be flexible when you’re operating globally and managing thousands of staff has been well and truly debunked by the likes of Mars, Virgin Media O2 and TELUS International in this report.

“In 2023, there’s no excuse not to offer staff choice over ways of working. Or, at least, there’s a rapidly-shrinking talent pool ready to meet companies who choose not to.”

Dr Nicholas Andreou, co-founder of Flexa100 winner, Locum’s Nest, comments:“We are ecstatic to have won the Flexa100 awards for 2023, ranking as number 1! We created Locum’s Nest to solve the NHS staffing crisis and provide flexible working options to now +50,000 healthcare professionals, so it’s truly an honour to be recognised for our efforts. However, none of this would be possible without our team and our NHS partners’ dedication to setting the standards for flexible working in the NHS. We are excited to continue providing flexible working options for healthcare professionals and support the NHS in the best way we can.”