Job sharing has so many benefits.
The term "flexible working" is broad. There are so many use cases. For some telecommuting and remote working is perfectly fine. People who share a role can also work remotely or telecommute.
As for part-time or compressed workweek, there are some advantages to sharing a role. In a roleshare you have:
- Peace of Mind - You have a buddy in the role who's got your back when you're not there.
- Strategic Roles - You can operate at a senior level, without having to take a lesser impact or less strategic role, which can sometimes happen with part-time roles. There are always exceptions, of course.
- Fair Pay - When working a part-time or compressed workweek solo, professionals often times find themselves having to work an extra day anyway because of the demands of the role, but they're not getting paid for that day. Now in a job share, the team communicate regularly even if one person is away, but the onus is not on the person out of the office.
- Keep Rocking - When someone worked in a role in a full-time capacity, and then cut back on hours in that same role, it can feel like a constant chase to compare to your previous self. In a roleshare, each individual can capitalize on her or his strengths and experience - this make working more fun too!
- Career Growth - According to the Modern Families Index 2019, people working part time have just a 21% chance of being promoted within the next three years, compared to 45% for their full time counterparts. In a job share the team operate at full-time capacity, in some cases more if both work 3 days a week, so together could make a strong case for promotion.