International Women’s Day, now well into its second century, has long celebrated the achievements of women – whether economic, social, cultural or political. This year, however, IWD’s calling on each one of us, individually, to Break the Bias. We’re being encouraged to stand up and demand an equitable world, where difference is valued and celebrated.

Whatever your working pattern of choice – part time work, remote work, compressed hours – there’s no question that flexible working has made a huge difference to our lives. Forget Biff, Chip and Kipper - for millions of us, flexibility has been the magic key to unlocking a better work-life balance. It’s enabled us to cheer on our kids at sports days. To provide a listening ear for elderly relatives. To volunteer in our communities. For some of us, flexible working is what makes our worlds go around.

As the New Year dawns, with the added joys of lockdown #3, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s a rather grey and uninspiring dawn. However, here at 9-2-3, we’ve been thinking about the months and years to come and we’re feeling hopeful about the post-pandemic landscape for businesses; there are definitely signs of a brighter future shining through the clouds.

If we let one person work flexibly, then everyone will want to!” is often the argument we hear when speaking to companies who are resistant to introducing flexible working arrangements.

And at 9-2-3, our response is: “That’s a good thing!”

2020 has been quite the year so far. Whilst as a country we seem to never be too far away from another political crisis, there have been some great developments that show where the rest of the year, and perhaps further into the future, is going to take us. So it’s a good time to take stock of some of the more positive things starting to emerge when it comes to work and the ultimate goal of modern day thriving family.