Finalnd or Sweden best for flexible working hours

Updated on: Friday, June 10, 2011

Want a flexible work schedule? Look for a job in Finland and Sweden and avoid countries such as Japan, Greece and Armenia.

According to a study by Grant Thornton International, 92 per cent of companies surveyed around the world rated Finland as the country which provides the maximum flexibility at work.

Sweden came second with 86 per cent, followed by Australia with 85 per cent.

Interestingly, Thailand is the only Asian country which made it into the top 10, with 85 per cent of companies offering flexible work arrangements.

According to human resource experts, the companies which provide the option of flexible work hours to employees perform better than their counterparts with regular 9-5 jobs.

The survey conducted among more than 7,700 businesses in 39 countries found "Finland, Sweden and Australia as the countries with the highest percentage of companies offering flexible work arrangements, while Japan, Greece and Armenia were the lowest."

Other countries which provide flexible working hours are New Zealand, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland.

The countries that showed the least amount of flexibility in work arrangements were Japan, Greece and Armenia. Only 18 per cent of Japanese companies permit these kind of work schedules. Greece was second with 26 per cent and Armenia has 35 per cent.

Apart from Japan, three other Asian countries Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan also featured in the list as among the countries with the least amount of flexibility in work.

Other countries in the list are Poland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Russia.

Finalnd or Sweden best for flexible working hours

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