Do Flexible Working Time Arrangements Reduce Worker Turnover?

Contemporary organizations are increasingly implementing flexible working time arrangements (FWTA) that provide workers with more control over individual working hours. Despite these changes, managers and policy-makers are less informed about whether these arrangements reduce worker turnover and for which populations of workers. Analyzing nationally representative employer-employee matched data from Germany, the author finds that adopting FWTAs does not reduce overall employee turnover, but it does reduce the probability of exiting the establishment for both young men and women, women with young kids, and low-wage workers in establishments. These results suggest that providing flexible working time policies is not a panacea for worker retention but such policies can play an important role in retaining young and low-wage workers and advancing their careers.

Moderated by Lena Hipp

Duanyi Yang is a PhD candidate at MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research. Currently she is a visiting researcher with the WZB’s Work and Care research group. Her work aims to rethink how human resource management, worker voice institutions, and private and public regulations shape employee and organizational outcomes.

Lena Hipp is Head of the Work and Care research group at the WZB and Professor of Social Structure, Work, and Organizations at the University of Potsdam.