Molly Johnson-Jones

Flexa

Co-Founder & CEO

Working On It Podcast

Co Host

11:FS

Senior Research Strategy Lead

Stone & River

Senior Consultant

Consultant

GlobalData Retail, formerly known as Conlumino and Verdict Retail

Lead Food Retail Research Analyst

Nomura International plc

Food Retail Analyst

Deloitte

Scholar

Rothschild

Intern

Hello, I'm Molly, CEO and Co-Founder of Flexa Careers.

At Flexa, we're revolutionizing the future of work by showcasing what makes companies unique and bringing much-needed transparency to the job hunting process. With 3 million users globally, we partner with esteemed brands like Airbus, Mars, BT, and Verizon to create inclusive employer brands that attract the right talent. If you're keen to get your company on Flexa, reach out to Poppy at poppy@flexa.careers.

As one of the UK's foremost thought leaders on the future of work, I’ve been featured in major media outlets like Forbes and The FT. I’ve headlined talks at prestigious events such as Sifted, Recfest, and RunningRemote, and appeared on BBC News and TalkTV. I run workshops on a variety of topics, including EVPs and DEI, which I’ve delivered impactfully for GWI and Microsoft. Additionally, I’ve partnered with industry leaders like Mercer, Intel, Awesomic, and Samsung, consistently achieving excellent results for their campaigns.

If you're interested in collaborating on an influencer campaign or booking me as a speaker, please reach out at hello@mjj.work or connect with me on LinkedIn. Let’s build the future of work together!

Asking about flexibility can be terrifying 😱 

I've been dropped from multiple interview processes because of asking about it up front. 

So, here are 5 different ways to ask about flexibility in a job interview to avoid wasting your time (and theirs):

1️⃣ "I'd love to understand a bit more about your culture and working environment, how would you describe it?"

→ Green flags would be words like flexible, freedom, and distributed

2️⃣ "What kind of person thrives at your company? I'd be keen to understand the behaviours you encourage"

→ Green flags would be words like independent, adaptable, autonomous

3️⃣ "How do you measure performance? What would make me seen as a top performer in this role?"

→ Green flags would be a conversation around output, being target focused and how presenteeism doesn't matter, it's about getting your work done

4️⃣ "I'd love to hear of some examples of how you foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace."

→ Green flags would be if this question doesn't make the interviewer awkward, and they talk about how the working environment works for different kinds of people, and talk about examples of diverse talent

5️⃣ "You mentioned that you're "open to flexible working" - what does this look like in your organisation?"

→ Green flags would be an open discussion around different working patterns and clarity in terms of what is on offer

These will all open a conversation that can be steered towards flexibility. 

If they avoid being led that way, run 🏃‍♀️ 

However, if flexibility really is a non-negotiable for you, then prioritise for companies that are clear from the very beginning - you know where to look 👀 

#FlexibleWorking #Interviews #JobSeekers

CEO & Co-Founder @ Flexa | Employer Brand | DEI | Future of Work Speaker & Influencer | Working On It Podcast Host

What's next? A Chief Masculine Officer?

Mark Zuckerberg says that companies need more masculine energy, and that we should have cultures that celebrate aggression more

It comes just one week after Meta announced that they have dismantled their DEI policies

And removed fact checkers on Meta in a bid to protect free speech

While this behaviour is blatantly politically charged 

It's also genuinely alarming

We have to remember that we still live in a world where women don't feel safe:

🚩 Women have just 64% of the legal rights of men
🚩 Around 2.4bn women are not afforded equal economic opportunity 
🚩 There is a 20% gender pay gap
🚩 Violence against women has a male perpetrator 94.4% of the time
🚩 1 in every 6 women has been sexually assaulted
🚩 58% of women have been sexually harassed or abused at work

The assertion that companies need more masculine energy implies that female involvement in companies has gone too far 

And that behaviours that make people feel unsafe should be celebrated

Just 11% of Fortune 500 companies are run by women, yet companies aren't "masculine" enough?

Politically charged statements indirectly attacking certain groups don't have a place in a safe and equal society

Yet, every week I grow more concerned about how women are being treated, how far-right social media is dictating people's views, and how gender equality cannot exist in a world where women are seen as inadequate

This isn't a zero-sum game; gender equality is a positive-sum game

#GenderEquality #ToxicMasculinity #Inclusivity

Here are some small companies hiring now with incredible ways of working 👇 

🥤 Huel with 30 days of holiday plus public hols

📱 Attractions.io working fully flexible hours and fully remotely (rated 100% by employees)

🧠 Boxclever with shared parental leave 

🚲 Laka with early finish Fridays

👀 Picnic with a very generous work from anywhere scheme 

👩 Elvie with a 9 day fortnight

 🐶 Butternut Box | B Corp with 30 days of holiday plus public hols

🎤 The Alliance with unreal wellbeing and L&D budgets (they're actually mad, have a look)

🤖 Bitfount with fully flexible hours (rated 93% by their employees)

💰 SAPI with a dog-friendly office 

💻  Amplifi (Europe) working fully flexible hours and remote-first (rated 99% by employees)

Big companies often get all the attention, but there are so many benefits to working in a smaller organisation:

🐭 More exposure to different areas of the business
🐭 Huge variety in your working days
🐭 Fast paced cultures with massive autonomy
🐭 More opportunities to try new things and take on different responsibilities 

Check them out all on Flexa where they've been rated by their employees ✨ 

#JobSeekers #Hiring #EmployerValueProposition

Here are some of my BIG predictions for the way we work in 2025:

🏢 Full 5 day a week return to office mandates will slow down, and companies that have embraced some form of flexibility will begin to think about how to optimise and get the most out of this new way of working.

🏡 As a result, fully remote being the overwhelmingly popular choice for candidates will start to reduce, with people being more specific about the blend of remote and in person that works best for them.

⛓️‍💥 There'll be tension as more employees want workplaces to be more human, but companies still need professionalism and boundaries. I'm unsure what will happen, but the focus on wellbeing that we saw in 2024 won't go away.

⏰ That feeling of pure fear that you've arrived at 09:03 instead of 09:00 will be rarer, as at least a little flex in hours will become more normalised.

🧠 Soft skills will be a bigger focus as AI and automation continues to disrupt, with companies spending more time optimising for skills based hiring.

🌍 More companies will have global talent pools, as behemoths like Deel make it possible to hire as if they were in the same country.

🌧️ With the job marketing as bleak as it is, some companies will use it as a way to roll back on benefits, salary increases, progression, flexibility, and more. They'll lose their top talent, and the companies still investing in their people will win the attraction game.

🔍 Transparency will continue to grow, from salary through to culture, and the companies that embrace this will see lower attrition and higher employee performance.

❓Employees will ask more questions; from whether the company is growing sustainably through to why certain decisions are being made. This will make a lot of people who aren't used to having to explain themselves very uncomfortable, but there's huge opportunity for growth in people asking questions too.

👶 Women leaving the workforce will continue to increase. 2024 was the first year in decades that we saw a rise in women leaving the workforce, and this will happen again in 2025 as childcare costs increase and flexible working is rolled back on (no, the right to request won't make a difference). Savvy companies will scoop up the skilled women with returnship schemes, alternative working patterns, and family friendly cultures.

Anything I've missed? Comment below and let me know what you think 👇 

Flexa

#FutureOfWork #FlexibleWorking #TalentAttraction

I was just on TalkTV discussing the Reed survey that shows people who work from home are less likely to get promoted.

The survey headline is alarming, but I think there are important distinctions to make rather than scaremongering.

People tend to conflate WFH with being fully remote, rather than seeing it as a broad spectrum, from hybrid through to fully remote.

We can’t demonise every form of flexible working, here. It’s not a binary debate of remote versus work from home, there’s actually a huge amount of grey area, and that’s where we need to focus to make progress.

The largest WFH study, conducted by Nick Bloom, a Stanford Professor, suggests that productivity in a flexible hybrid environment is just as high as when people go into the office every day.

So, when companies are using going into the office every day as a measure of performance, they’re using the wrong metrics, and focusing on the idea that just because you can’t see someone, they aren’t working. 

The same people who are avoiding work at home, will avoid work in the office. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, companies have a right to demand a return to office if they want to. 

But we need to understand the reasons for companies doing this, before we blame working from home as a whole. 

The evidence suggests that hybrid working in particular has no effect on productivity but massively increases engagement, happiness, and ability to attract top talent for the majority of companies. 

We also have to remember that there is a huge vested interest across businesses because of onerous leases, an enormous amount of wealth in property, and a desire to maintain the status quo because it’s easier. 

If a company has genuinely seen an impact on performance and productivity, then bring people back, but they need to be doing it for the right reasons.

Companies mandating full RTOs will lose access to top talent, lose diversity in their workforce, and likely reduce profitability as flexible working has a huge positive impact on the bottom line

There are thousands of companies out there making hybrid and remote working work, but it isn’t as simple as giving people a laptop. It requires measuring true performance metrics rather than how many times someone came into an office and had a coffee with their boss. 

We need to accept that work is no longer just working in an office five days a week, there are many ways that work can be done. 

Companies that adapt to this will future proof themselves, and those that demand a return to the old ways of working without genuine data driven rationale will trap themselves in the past. 

You can watch the whole interview on demand below 👇 

#FlexibleWorking #RemoteWorking #ReturnToOffice

Things that people love to blame on working from home:

💰 The state of the economy
😫 Underperformance
😡 Bad management
🦀 Lack of culture
❤️‍🩹 Being single
😔 Being lonely
🏃 Being unfit 
🧌 Being ugly
🔥 Burnout

Not adapting to working from home successfully can cause these things (apart from the state of the economy... that's a step too far) but WFH is not the root cause of society's issues 

Remote and in person working are fundamentally complementary, not opposing 🫱🏻‍🫲🏾

Flexa

#WorkingFromHome #FlexibleWorking #RemoteWorking

When I was really sick, I remember the crippling guilt of having to come into work a bit later after a night of flare up 

In my job, it was normal to arrive at work around 8:30am

But if I'd had a flare up, I wouldn't have slept until 5am

So in order to function the next day, I'd need to come in a couple of hours later

I worked later 
I completed the same amount of work 
I was still promoted

But every time it happened I'd be wracked with anxiety once I got to the door of the office

This led to a downward spiral where I'd avoid going in later and my flare ups would intensify 

Leading to taking sick days and struggling to recover

Since running Flexa and being able to adjust my schedule if I have a flare up, I've only taken one autoimmune related day off

I still have that feeling of guilt, but I remind myself that it's better to go back to sleep to avoid that downward spiral

Flexible hours are often frowned upon, and people are judged for working "less hard"

Thriving in a different pattern to the status quo doesn't make you lazy or less committed

Sometimes, flexible hours are the thing that makes it possible to work at all

#DiversityEquityInclusion #FlexibleHours #FlexibleWorking

5 things you're missing from your employer brand 👇 

1️⃣ Clarity - phrases like "open to flexible working" just don't cut it. What does this actually mean? Buzzwords don't add to your employer brand, they detract from it, so get specific.

2️⃣ Transparency - different people will thrive in different environments, and giving information up front around your benefits, culture, and ways of working doesn't put you at risk of people taking the piss... it means that you'll attract aligned talent. 

3️⃣ Honesty - your employer brand should put off as many people as it attracts. Be truthful about the bits that won't be for everyone, like a fast-paced culture, no in-person time, or being fully in the office. 

4️⃣ Advocacy - your employees are your biggest asset when it comes to your employer brand. People need to be able to see themselves in your organisation, so weaving in personal stories of the kind of people who thrive in your company will add a personal (and believable) touch. 

5️⃣ Personality - the best employer brands feel different, just like the best brands. Look at TUI, Mars, and BT Business and you can feel how unique they are. Lean into how your organisation feels, the culture you have, and general company vibes, and get that across in your employer brand marketing. 

But what's the ROI I hear you say? 

🔥 Better diversity 
🔥 Lower cost to hire
🔥 Faster time to hire 
🔥 Stronger retention
🔥 A more efficient hiring process
🔥 Increased relevance of applications

#EmployerBrand #EmployerValueProposition #JobSeekers

Glassdoor's word of the year is *divisive*

And even choosing the word divisive is actually quite divisive...

Because I think the other words they uncovered are far more interesting:

→ Mentions of *ageism* increased 74% 

This uncovers a previously ignored element of diversity & inclusion, and I hope that this new awareness of ageism means we see some real change in 2025.

→ Mentions of *return to office* increased 7% 

2024 was the year of RTOs, and the increase quite nicely reflects the fact that although full 5 day a week RTOs aren't the norm, they're still significant and growing.

→ Mentions of *ghosting* grew 46% 

It's a very tough job market out there, and recruiters are being called out when they don't follow up after interviews. It's interesting to see these reviews make their way onto Glassdoor, which hasn't traditionally been used at the pre-employee phase.

But will people using it to review companies at interview stage just add to how difficult it can be to use Glassdoor to understand what it's really like to work somewhere?

→ Mentions of *Demure* grew by 1707% 

I find this fascinating - it shows how quickly trends on TikTok now define our language, particularly in younger generations, and how important it is to understand how, and why, these words are being used. 

Although mentions of *divisive* grew by 44% in relation to topics like politics, DEI, and toxic workplaces, I don't think that word was one that highlights a true shift.

I'd have picked *ghosting* as it shows that there's a higher standard employers are being held to, and that there are consequences (online reviews, hello) to bad behaviour.

What do you think?

#Ageism #DiversityEquityInclusion #ReturnToOffice

What’s next for workplaces in 2025?

Earlier this week, I shared my predictions for workplace trends in 2025, and the conversations that followed were incredible! Your insights helped shape an even clearer picture of the future.

In this week’s newsletter I’m exploring these themes in more detail. I will be covering:

📊 10 key trends shaping the future of work
💬 Community thoughts that sparked new ideas
📈 What it all means for employees and employers
🗣️ How you can have your say on the future of work

The future of work is here, and I’d love to hear your perspective.

Which workplace trend do you think will make the biggest impact in 2025 ⬇️ 

#FutureOfWork #FlexibleWorking #AI

Hello and welcome back to my newsletter! I write about the future of work, flexible working, startups, and DEI. If you've been forwarded this newslett

Open article: My 2025 workplace predictions: what's coming next? by Molly Johnson-Jones • 6 min read

My 2025 workplace predictions: what's coming next?

🚨 I need your opinions 🚨 

You might have noticed we've been talking about more than just flexibility over the last few months…

While flexible working changed the game, it's just one piece of creating truly great workplaces

That's why in 2025, we're continuing to expand Flexa's focus to tackle the full picture of what makes work actually work for people

Think:

🏓 Company culture that goes beyond ping pong tables
❤️ Leadership that gets what modern teams need
🫱🏻‍🫲🏾 DEI policies that create real, lasting change
🧠 Mental health support that isn't just a meditation app subscription

You get the idea!

But enough about what we think - I want to know what's on your mind for 2025:

🤼 What workplace challenges are you facing?
👷 Which topics should we dig into deeper?
🙄 What do you wish more companies understood?

Drop your thoughts below 👇 

Your input will directly shape what we explore this year and the insights I continue to share in my newsletter

#FutureOfWork #FlexibleWorking #Culture

Hello and welcome to my first newsletter of 2025! If you've been following Flexa's journey, you'll know we started out with a focus on flexible and re

Open article: Redefining work: What are your big questions for 2025? by Molly Johnson-Jones • 3 min read

Redefining work: What are your big questions for 2025?

Almost half a million people have read my newsletter this year - which has blown my mind!

We’re wrapping up with a look back at the year and some predictions for 2025, including:
 
🤖 The reality of AI in recruitment
🛶 The ongoing evolution of workplace flexibility
⛰ Critical skills and mindsets for 2025

Thank you so much for being part of this community, it’s been amazing getting to know so many more of you this year.

From AI myths to must-have skills: the real story of recruitment in 2024 & what's next

There’s corporate jargon and then there’s Flexa… 😂

Does anyone else’s company have to do a full briefing to new starters on the daily work language?

Next week, we’ll be discussing corporate buzzwords on Working On It Podcast 🎧



#podcast #office #careeradvice

Is the idea of bringing your whole self to work a load of rubbish?

Do close work friendships hinder your career or help grow it?

This week, me and Lauren discuss work friendships and boundaries at work 🎙️


#podcast #careeradvice

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