Career progression: deal-driven, long-hours culture fuels City firms’ resistance to flexible hours for workforce

Flexible working must be seen as a business rather than gender issue, one of the UK’s most high-profile female lawyers told the Woman Lawyer Forum this month.

Janet Gaymer, senior partner at City firm Simmons & Simmons, said: ‘A sense of realism must apply to both parties and any initiative must be robustly tested as with any other business proposition. [At Simmons & Simmons], we are building a body of knowledge to see what works. We found four-day weeks work better than three-day weeks.’


Where lawyers work flexibly, there is a growing culture of ‘presenteeism’ where they are always contactable, she added. ‘People over-perform; they are driven and part-timers are still mentally doing a full- time job.’


Ms Gaymer said that in many firms, flexible working is still regarded as an issue that affects only women. She said: ‘It is still women who predominantly care for children so it is predominantly women asking for flexible working, but reluctance on the part of men is lessening.’


Meanwhile, a report unveiled at the forum by Swiftwork, a consultancy that helps firms implement and manage a flexible workforce, revealed that there is continued resistance to flexible working in leading City firms.


The study found that flexible work options are not consistently applied, but depend on the area of specialism and on the attitude of individual managers. ‘Usually, they are not available without penalty in terms of career progression and remuneration,’ it said. ‘A typical manifestation across the profession is a high attrition rate in the 30 to 40-year age bracket and a disproportionately low number of women at partnership level.’


The Swiftwork study cited the deal-driven, long-hours culture and the ‘up or out’ approach to career progression as key factors. ‘Attrition at middle stages of the career path is an accepted, and viewed by some firms as a necessary, component of the business model,’ it said. ‘The impact of this for the profession is a significant loss of talent.’


Men’s needs are changing, the report also said. More dual-earning households meant both partners continued working after having children to maintain their standard of living, and men wanted a more active role in family life.


However, solicitors are deterred from asking to work flexibly for fear of jeopardising their partnership prospects or being seen as less committed.



However, John Lucy, head of human resources at City firm Herbert Smith, told the Gazette: ‘We recently promoted a part-time worker to equity partner. It is by no means a bar, so long as the person meets the criteria.’



He said: ‘Openness, honesty and flexibility are required on both sides. Flexible working is an issue, it’s on the agenda, but there is no easy solution.’