The flexibility paradox: co-creating flexible work arrangements amid socio-cultural, structural and equity tensions

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how working parents in the urban Indian Information Technology workforce navigate, perceive and negotiate flexibility at the workplace while balancing childcare responsibilities. It explores the co-construction of flexibility and the socio-cultural, structural and emotional factors influencing its accessibility and impact. Design/methodology/approach Based on a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 36 employees across diverse urban information technology firms in India, using thematic analysis and Gioia's inductive data structuring approach, the study identifies how individual agency, organisational culture and policy enactments interact in shaping flexible working arrangements. Findings Four themes emerged from the findings: (1) collaborative construction of flexible arrangements, (2) socio-cultural impediments to equitable flexibility, (3) structural and power-based constraints and (4) social and emotional tensions in flexibility implementations. While participants reported appreciation for flexible working options, they also encountered guilt, performance mistrust and managerial gatekeeping. Flexibility was both a support system and a hidden stressor, particularly for new parents in dual-career households. These pioneers “controlled flexibility” as a hybrid extension of I-deals for collectivist contexts, revealing novel inequities. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on the urban Information Technology workforce, and findings may not fully generalise to other sectors or national cultures. Future research could incorporate a longitudinal design or comparative cross-sector analysis. Originality/value The study contributes to organisational behaviour and HRM literature by exposing the “flexibility paradox” and advancing an understanding of how flexibility can become a site of negotiation, exclusion and emotional strain in culturally complex workplaces.