Mark Casci: In not allowing flexible working we are wasting talent and harming the economy

This was no Remain camp-loving scaremongering, although the IMF has laid itself open to criticism for its questionable approach to the referendum.

The IMF revised its numbers down across the board, not just for the UK. It predicted a decline across in the world economy, which it now expects to grow just 3.1 per cent, with its chief economist Maurice Obstfeld, warning that “sub-par growth at recent levels risks perpetuating itself”. Also set to perpetuate itself is the post-Brexit row.

We cannot stop the passionate beliefs of those in both the remain and leave camps clashing even after the vote has gone through in the latter’s favour.

But one thing we can all agree in on is that “the new normal”, a phrase coined in the aftermath of the 2008 global recession, looks to the be the prevailing trend in modern economics.

That is why a news report carried in The Yorkshire Post late last week had me absolutely flabbergasted if not a little enraged.

No, for once it was not the latest outbreaks of bigotry and immorality from the Republican nominee in the US presidential election.

It was a report from a little known organisation called the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) group who published research showing that a lack of flexible working options for employees was causing Yorkshire’s economy to be as much as £4.9bn worse off, mainly due to talented women with children staying at home.

The Cebr report showed nearly seven in 10 of so-called stay-at-home mothers with children aged 18 and under would happily go back to work if offered hours which fitted in around their childcare options were on offer.

When you consider that there are 263,000 mothers currently classed as being out of the labour force in Yorkshire that is a serious number.

And while thousands of these people are women who, at this point in their lives, wish to focus on family and home life, we must surely feel outraged and be terrified by the fact that so many talented, hard-working and aspirational women feel precluded from bringing these skills to our offices, boardrooms, factories and laboratories due to reticence on their employers behalf to exercise some creative thinking as to how to make it work around domestic needs.

Whatever we feel about the advent of smart phones and their effect on the work/life balance, they have also been extraordinarily liberating in allowing men and women escape the archaic 9-5pm working hours.

Much of the campaigning in the run up to the referendum was focused on what we leave our children in terms of a political and economic legacy. Wasting talent and opportunity is absolutely not what we want as a legacy.

And so with the economic prospects of our nation appearing limited, I am compelled to question why this massive untapped pool of potential is not being looked at more seriously by all businesses?

My sincere thanks to all who attended The Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards shortlisting event last week at the Leeds offices of DLA Piper.

There were some brilliant businesses on show that evening and it was great to put faces to many of their names. Those in attendance heard from PwC’s Leeds office senior partner Arif Ahmad who hailed the region’s positivity, exemplified in the shortlisted firms, and called upon us to harness to ensure our economic prosperity, rather than focus on the negative.

Not only do I agree with these sentiments 100 per cent, I also wished I could tell the whole county about it. If only I had a weekly column of some sort...