“They do not fit in at a bank": Five myths about people in flex jobs

Has facilitated more than 1,000 flex jobs

Flexfabrikken provides courses for people in unemployment to upgrade their skills. It is also a temporary employment and recruitment agency catering to candidates with physical or mental challenges.

Henriette Friis Højer, originally a qualified social worker, came up with the idea for Flexfabrikken when she started out as a self-employed consultant and hired people in flex jobs for administrative tasks.

A former IT manager with a background in banking kept the books, a young woman was skilled in graphics design, a public school teacher was able to assist in the courses, and a fourth unskilled person took care of practicalities.

“I had four people in flex jobs 32 hours a week. But it relieved me of 80 hours. So, I quit my consultancy business and got Flexfabrikken going,” she tells us.

Up to now, Flexfabrikken has matched more than 1,000 flex job candidates with employers.
Having worked with flex job workers for most of her career, she is more than ready to disprove some of the most enduring myths about flex jobs.

Less productive...

We will start with a deep-rooted prejudice that people in flex jobs are not as efficient and productive as full-time employees.

This is the first misconception, says Henriette Friis Højer.

“Employers actually only pay for the hours that an employee in a flex job is efficient. Apart from that, my experience is that many flex job employees are highly motivated and committed to giving their best because they have been excluded from the labour market for a long time.”

“But what they often need is a little support and a clear framework to fit in.”

According to Henriette Friis Højer, it is not rocket science to create the right environment for people with special needs.

To illustrate, she once employed a skilled web integrator who did not like talking on the phone, so she did that for him.

Others may need to take a five-minute break every hour or can only work for a couple of hours at a time. But quite often, only small adjustments are needed to succeed, says Henriette Friis Højer.

Can only handle coffee and copying...

Many may think that those who work in flex jobs can only perform simple tasks such as brewing coffee, working in the kitchen or taking copies.

Yet another fallacy.

Anyone can fall off their bicycle, be diagnosed with illness or succumb to stress. So, people in flex jobs obviously represent a multitude of qualifications and skills.

“People in flex jobs are just like the rest of us. But they simply cannot work for 37 hours. You’ll see people with exceptionally high IQs, former CEOs, public school teachers and unskilled individuals. It is a broad representation of the world,” she points out.

“Tomorrow, it could be you or me.”

Do not fit in at a bank...

Since 2015, Flexfabrikken has matched more than 1,000 flex job candidates with workplaces.
But it is often a challenge in the financial sector.

According to the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment, the financial sector is worst of all sectors at hiring people in flex jobs. Henriette Fris Højer has noticed this too.

“People from the banking sector often tell me that it cannot be done. ‘There are far too many meetings, and coming in late and leaving early is simply not an option with us.’”

She often challenges this by asking if the workplace might have students working for them.
“And the banks often have. So, obviously, there is room for people working fewer hours,” she says.

According to Henriette Friis Højer, it is not so much about the number of hours, but more a matter of deciding which tasks could ideally be solved by one or more persons who work fewer hours.

You can never get rid of people in flex jobs...

Another prejudice is that once you hire people in flex jobs, you can never get rid of them. This does not represent reality.

“Of course you can terminate someone in a flex job. We’ve done so several times if there were no tasks for them, or if the match was wrong,” she says and continues:

“You cannot terminate someone on the basis of what gave them the flex job. That’s logical. If someone is missing an arm, you cannot fire them for missing an arm. But, like any other business, you can restructure work, give warnings and make cutbacks. So that's a misconception.”

In the more than 1,000 hirings facilitated by Flexfabrikken, there has not been a single instance of questionable termination pursuant to the Danish Act on Non-Discrimination on Grounds of Disability. Henriette Friis Højer investigated the extent of this problem herself a few years ago. In reality, there are virtually no cases of people who felt they were terminated because of their disability.

“It has become urban myth that you cannot get rid of people with disabilities, and it has been blown entirely out of proportion. There are far more pregnancy cases. It's a shame to see such prejudice evolving and messing things up for a lot of people.”

It is cumbersome and expensive...

So, what about finances and the process – is hiring someone in a flex job complicated, cumbersome and expensive?

By no means, says Henriette Fris Højer, calling it a win-win for both parties.

It is hugely beneficial for flex job candidates to find work, as, once they are employed, they instantly receive a flex job subsidy, which is a lot more than the rate of unemployment benefits.
If you hire a person in a flex job, you save society an estimated DKK 100,000 per person every year.

The employer also has a lot to gain from it, she believes.

A lot might think that they must pay full-time for employees in flex jobs and subsequently have to struggle with getting hours refunded. It was like that on the old scheme, explains Henriette Friis Højer.
Today, employees in flex jobs are hired per hour, and you only pay for the effective working time.
In her experience, businesses often get a lot for their money.

“Sure, you can be unlucky, but that’s no different with someone working 37 hours. There are a lot of skilful unemployed people on the flex job scheme.” And you can have three or four employees in flex jobs sharing a full-time position. This may increase flexibility and provide more qualifications for the same price,” she says.

“So fresh and happy employees will always turn up for work.”