The COVID-19 pandemic gave employees the chance to work from home, figuring out their own hours and having a better quality of life.

News 12's consumer reporter Janice Lieberman has The Real Deal on how employees are asking for a hybrid work schedule when searching for a new job.

A recent pilot program out of the U.K. suggests working four days a week instead of five is more productive and will keep more employees at work.

Many people got very accustomed to work flexibility after being locked down. And this recent pilot program suggests working four days a week may cut down on unnecessary meetings, and chatter and lead to a more productive working environment. Ninety percent of the companies in the trial said they would continue the 32-hour work week, but acknowledge it doesn't work for every company and every department. For those not offered flexibility they may be practicing "quiet quitting."

"The fact that so many people have been quitting their jobs shows that they have belief that there's still a lot of mobility in the labor force. They feel like they can get another job, whether it's in the same sector or another sector relatively easily. So there's still a lot of hiring going on, which makes it easier for people to do what's so-called quiet quitting, maybe showing up for work, maybe looking for other jobs, maybe not coming into work as often as they used to," says Investopedia's Caleb Silver.

After a strong 2022 of job growth, we still see a lot of job openings in the state of New York.

Where are the hot jobs in our area? Education, hospitality and leisure and of course as always health care workers.

If you have a story idea, question or tip, click here to reach out to Janice.