Fewer than a fifth of companies allow all their employees to work flexibly on a daily basis, even though an overwhelming majority of European workers want access to such provisions.

An independent report commissioned by Avaya found that a failure to provide flexible working is an "ever-increasing risk" in a region where nearly a third of employees would "definitely" change jobs to work flexibly.

More than three-quarters of Europe's workforce would consider changing companies in exchange for flexible working practices and technologies.

The findings from the report, Flexible Working in Europe and Russia, are based on a survey of more than 3,000 workers across Europe.

In addition the study found that 30 per cent of senior managers think that flexible working policies and technologies would allow their companies to compete more successfully on the global stage.

However, SMEs are considerably less likely to offer flexible working conditions than larger companies.

The research also suggests that it is not just family men and women who want the advantages of flexible working.

Some 78 per cent of those surveyed indicated that they would be prepared to continue working for their employer after retirement if the flexible option were available.

"The digital divide used to be constructed of those who had access to technology and those who did not," said Martyn Lambert, vice president of marketing in EMEA at Avaya.

"What this report shows is a new digital divide: those companies that have unlocked the ability to gain workforce productivity and efficiency while retaining their best workers, and those who are putting their businesses at risk because they do not have the technology to support what their workers are asking for."