By 2015 IT workers will only be working 20 hours a week, according to market analyst Gartner. Gartner claims employers will find it difficult to say no to requests for more job flexibility.

Gartner analyst Brian Prentice claims that as the consumerisation of IT increases the proliferation of digital devices, content and services, the balance of power is shifting towards individuals in an organisation.

He said that as IT becomes woven into the fabric of people’s lives and traditional work-home boundaries are rendered obsolete, digital free-agency will emerge.

Retiring baby boomers, working-age mothers and generation X workers are seeking better work-life balance to juggle personal, family and community responsibilities. Traditional work structures are inhibiting people’s ability to achieve this, according to Gartner.

Additional pressures of an ageing population and skills shortages will lead to the adoption of digital free-agency and flexible work structures as social, political and business necessities.