Flexibility I‐deals for whom? A critical exploration of the complexities of boundary management and unequal access to flexibility negotiation

Abstract The central questions addressed in this special issue are who receives flexibility i‐deals, who benefits from them, and under what conditions. Although flexibility i‐deals are often portrayed as individualized arrangements that enhance well‐being and work–life integration, the articles in this issue show that access to and outcomes of such deals are unevenly distributed across employees and social groups. Collectively, the papers examine how flexibility i‐deals are shaped by individual, organizational, and societal barriers, with particular attention to underexamined groups such as ethnic minority employees, employees with disabilities, older workers, and workers with limited bargaining power. Across diverse contexts, the studies demonstrate that flexibility i‐deals are negotiated, granted, and enacted within relational systems structured by power, legitimacy, and status. Building on these contributions, this editorial develops a multilevel process model of flexibility i‐deals that captures barriers across the stages of requesting, negotiation, granting, implementation, and outcomes. By drawing attention to relational inequality of access to flexibility i‐deals, the special issue challenges the assumption of a symmetric bargaining space and reconceptualises flexibility i‐deals as arrangements that may either alleviate or reproduce organizational inequality.