Prior to Covid, I remember 90% of flexible working requests were shut down with an immediate no and not much consideration. Five days a week in the office was the norm and the PR industry, on the whole, was very reluctant to embrace any kind of hybrid working.

If you ask most PR agency employees, the one good thing to come out of the storm of the last 4 years has been the forced acceptance that not only is flexible working possible, but it's hugely beneficial. No long commutes, better for working parents, more time to fit in gym trips, I could go on.

I thought it was well accepted that a split of two to three days a week in the office, the rest working from home, had become the new normal. So I’ve been surprised over the last couple of months to hear of a few PR agencies and in-house teams trying to slowly nudge their way back to four to five days a week mandatory in the office.

But, if you value your team and want to keep them, don't do it. The firms doing this, or thinking about doing it, are losing people at a rapid rate.

As the owner of a comms focused recruitment agency, I spend all day talking to PR and comms professionals and, after salary, the main factor in attracting and retaining top talent is flexible working. The more flexibility, the better. I’m regularly speaking to candidates looking to move who love their jobs but just don’t want to go back to a full week in the office.

Being a PR agency owner over the last few years has not been an easy ride and I’m sure these decisions haven’t been taken lightly. However, in a post-Covid world where employees want more flexibility (in both hours and location) and the industry is shouting about being more supportive to working parents, moving back to five days a week in the office seems like a huge step backwards.

Are you a PR agency owner? Have you noticed talent flocking since you increased flexibility, or are you holding firm on five days in the office? Let us know: elizabeth.howlett@prmoment.com