Intangible benefits in ICM (IV): The personal and labor reconciliation in ICM, easier than in other companies
The non-split working day and the proximity of home to work are some of the aspects that bring the reconciliation of personal, family and work life closer to those who work at ICM. However, conciliation is still a pending issue in Spain. In fact, a survey carried out this year by Infojobs reveals that only 41% of the employed population find it easy to reconcile their personal and professional lives.
More than two years ago, Grupo Espacio Industrial published “Personal, family and work reconciliation”, a guide for all the companies of the organization. Therefore, also in ICM. Its objective is to help spread the rights in terms of conciliation, aimed at advancing real and effective equality between women and men in the labor market. The guide includes various options so that ICM staff can reconcile their work life with personal and family life, such as those related to: Leave for birth and baby care, breastfeeding, reductions in working hours and leave of absence, and adaptation of working hours and paid leave.
In the mentioned Infojobs survey, flexible hours (53% of mentions), intensive working hours (38%) and teleworking (34%) are pointed out as the most useful measures to reconcile. And it highlights that women have more difficulties in this regard than men. This is also confirmed by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in terms of the impact on participation in the labor market, related to the care of dependent people, for example. “It is very different in men and women, which is a reflection not only of an unequal distribution of family responsibilities, but also of the lack of services or very expensive services for the care of children and adults, and the lack of opportunities to reconcile work and family”.
The position on conciliation by many organizations is not encouraging, as deduced in the study “Challenges of Spanish Companies in the COVID-19 era”, prepared last year by Sodexo. It confirms that “51% of companies do not intend to reinforce the conciliation and physical and emotional well-being of their employees with new measures after the health crisis.” And this despite the fact that “90% of employees say they want to spend more time with their family.” Moreover, “two out of three Spaniards look for companies that allow work-life balance”, as commented by the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2022 report. “The work-life balance remains the second most important factor, being chosen by almost two out of every three professionals (65%), a trend higher than that of the rest of Europe, located at 61%”, he adds.
It seems that one of the main motivations that drive those who already have a job to consider a change is to achieve facilities to reconcile work and family life (44%). It is closely preceded by having a better schedule (45%), and improve their salary conditions (74%). Another study carried out by Infojobs places mental health as the main cause of job abandonment in Spain. 32% of those surveyed acknowledge this. While 27% value economic conditions more, 26% the experience of dedicating themselves to something different, and 24% conciliation. From all these studies it can be deduced that, in Spain, there are many companies that are still reluctant to make it possible to reconcile personal and professional life; and that this is a highly valued factor by workers when deciding to change jobs or to stay in a company.
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