Flexitime – a modern trend or an inevitable necessity in 2025?

The labour market in 2025 no longer resembles that of a decade ago. Employees are looking for solutions that allow them to maintain a work-life balance, and companies need to respond to their needs in order to remain competitive. Flexible working hours are gaining popularity not only as a benefit, but actually as an essential part of the work organisation. What does statutory working time look like in 2025? What solutions are companies adopting? Will flexible working time soon become a standard and not just an add-on? Let’s take a closer look.

Working time in 2025 – how many hours do we work per month?

Before we move on to flexible working, let’s take a look at the basic figures for working hours in 2025 in Poland. The annual working hours for a full-time employee is 1992 hours, which translates into 249 working days. However, individual months differ in terms of the number of working days and hours to be worked. For example:

• January – 168 hours,
• February – 160 hours,
• May – 160 hours,
• July and October – as many as 184 hours,
• November – only 144 hours.

The figures show how much variation there is in workload from month to month. Employers are therefore starting to use flexitime models more and more to minimise the effects of overload and improve the efficiency of teams.

Flexitime – what does it mean?

Flexible working time is a model in which employees do not have to rigidly stick to set hours, but instead have the option to adapt their schedule to suit their own needs. Most commonly, this means:

• the possibility to start work in any time slot (e.g. 7:00-9:00),
• a shortened working week, e.g. a four-day system,
• hybrid or fully remote working,
• individually determined working hours, tailored to the employee’s efficiency.

More and more companies are implementing the above solutions, seeing them as a way to increase productivity, engagement and team satisfaction.

Wellbeing at work – why does flexibility matter?

Taking care of wellbeing at work today is not just a fashionable slogan, but a real need for employees. People who have the ability to adjust their working hours to suit their lifestyle perform better, are less stressed and more motivated to perform.

The benefits of flexible working hours include, first and foremost:

• reduced risk of burnout – not having the pressure of a rigid schedule allows for more efficient energy management,
• better work-life balance – flexibility allows work responsibilities to be tailored to individual needs,
• greater commitment and loyalty to the employer – companies that offer flexible working hours attract the best professionals and reduce staff turnover.

Flexible working hours are therefore becoming not only an expected convenience, but actually a standard in modern workplaces.

Flexible working hours in other countries

Poland is slow to adopt flexible working models, but they are already standard in many countries. What does it look like in other countries?

• France – a 35-hour working week is now the norm,
• Germany – popular part-time models and individual hourly arrangements,
• Netherlands – average weekly working time is 38 hours and flexible working arrangements are common,
• United States – although a 40-hour week is formally in force, many companies offer individual schedules.

Poland is increasingly adapting to these trends, although we still have a lot of catching up to do.

Will flexible working time become a standard?

All signs in the labour market indicate that flexible working hours is no longer just a temporary trend, but a reality that companies need to adapt to if they want to attract the best employees of the business world.

It is also a form of looking after the physical as well as the mental wellbeing of the team. Such activities increase employee motivation, efficiency and loyalty. For employees, it also means more freedom and the ability to tailor their careers to their own needs, while for employers it means greater productivity and team loyalty.

Will flexible working hours soon become the new norm? All indications are that it will. What was once a luxury is now becoming a necessity.