Flexible Working Scotland is a movement to make fair, flexible work the norm.
When work works, individuals contribute their best, families thrive, businesses grow, and Scotland becomes more inclusive and more prosperous.
We believe that fair work is good economics and so we are working towards a Scotland where fair, flexible work is so normal it stops being remarkable; a Scotland where every person can contribute their best work in a way that works for them and their employer.
Community is at the heart of everything we do and we feel we can do more together than any of us can alone. Together we can transform not just our own relationship with work, but work itself.
We’re here to support individuals and businesses for work that works. By joining our mailing list, you will receive job alerts to your inbox and the latest news and events from Flexible Working Scotland.
Meet the Founder, Lynn Houmdi
It wasn't until I became a mum in my early 40s that I realised the world of work was not designed for people like me.
I had a first-class degree, a postgraduate diploma, thirteen years in the civil service including stints as a diplomat and as an EU negotiator at the UN, plus a CV spanning three continents. And yet, in my search for work aligned with my skills and aspirations, I was completely stuck. How could I apply for a job without childcare in place? How could I book childcare without knowing what hours I'd need? The problem wasn't my ambition or my ability. The system hadn't caught up with my life.
When I started listening – to friends, to women in my network, to strangers online – I heard the same story everywhere. Highly skilled, experienced, capable women locked out of work entirely, or stuck in roles that didn't match what they could offer. Not because they lacked drive. Because the work they were capable of doing wasn’t available on their terms.
So I decided to do something about it.
Initially, with The Challenges Group, I co-created Making Work Work, an award-winning women's employability programme that has supported around 400 women into fair, flexible employment and raised over £1.2 million from 2021-26. Also in 2021, I founded Flexible Working Scotland – because the people for whom work wasn’t working, and who needed flexible work, weren't just women returners. They were everywhere, in their thousands across Scotland. We are now a community of over 30,000 people, with Scotland's only flex-first jobs board, and a growing role in policy, advocacy and employer practice.
I am a regular contributor to broadcast, print and online media and podcasts on the topics of women's careers and flexible work. I also contribute to policy and advocacy on fair, flexible work, including with the Scottish and UK Governments and Parliaments, often in collaboration with other advocacy and campaigning organisations.
Fair, flexible work is not a perk. Inconsistent access to it is an equity issue – one that widens the gender pay gap and costs Scotland the skills and potential of thousands of people every year. Tackling it takes individuals, employers, advocates and policymakers working together. That's exactly what we're doing.
If any of this resonates, I'd love to hear from you.
Buy me a cuppa
If my work has supported you in gaining employment, you can buy me a coffee on ko-fi!
