Search Results for: working lives

People from ‘Gen Z’ expect to change career at least three times during their working lives

People from ‘Gen Z’ expect to change career at least three times during their working lives

While 73 percent of people from 'Gen Z' are willing to take a pay cut to pursue more fulfilling opportunities, two thirds of Gen Zs plan to quit their current job by 2025While 73 percent of people from ‘Gen Z’ are willing to take a pay cut to pursue more fulfilling opportunities, two thirds of them plan to quit their current job by 2025, according to a new poll. Perceptions on careers and how often employees need to reskill and alter their career route has evolved significantly for the newest generation of workers, reveals the national survey of 2,000 working adults by Resource Solutions. The results suggest Gen Zs expect to change industries at least three times throughout their working life – once more than any other generation before them.  More →

People now less engaged, less fulfilled and more stressed in their working lives

People now less engaged, less fulfilled and more stressed in their working lives

New research from the CIPD exploring the quality of UK working lives suggests there has been a negative shift in how people think about and value their work.New research from the CIPD exploring the quality of UK working lives suggests there has been a negative shift in how people think about and value their work. The CIPD’s Good Work Index 2023 claims that most people like their work and find it satisfying. However, as many as 6-9 million workers, experience poor-quality work in some major respects. CIPD’s survey indicators show that there has been no significant improvement in job quality in the past four years and, in some respects, job quality has gone backwards. Compared to 2019, workers today are less enthused about work, less likely to perceive their work as useful and more likely to simply see work as purely transactional – simply for the money. More →

Trends set to improve people’s working lives examined in new report

Trends set to improve people’s working lives examined in new report

trendsNew research has been published aimed at understanding trends, practices and priority areas for improving employees’ experience and creating better places to work. The report, Roundel 2020 (registration required), was commissioned by employee engagement firm Home and asked HR and internal communications professionals about issues such as integrating new employees into the organisation (‘onboarding’), performance management, diversity and inclusion, and health and wellbeing. More →

Employment of mothers shapes working lives of children

Employment of mothers shapes working lives of children

working lives of mothers serves as role model for childrenA new report from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics claims that working mothers serve as role models for the working lives of their children, especially their daughters. The report suggests that  while the inter-generational correlation of labour market outcomes has been a subject of interest among both academics and policymakers for a long time, much of the literature has focused on the correlation of earnings. The new report argues that not only is the potential to earn transmitted across generations but also the willingness to work more generally. More →

Working lives dominated by stress and overwork

Working lives dominated by stress and overwork

Working lives are dominated by stressOver-work, stress and poor work-life balance are undermining attempts to improve the quality of working lives in the UK, new research from the CIPD claims. Over 5,000 people were surveyed for the UK Working Lives Survey, an annual assessment of job quality across seven different categories including pay and benefits, contracts and employment terms, and voice and representation. More →

AI will be commonplace in the working lives of staff very soon

AI will be commonplace in the working lives of staff very soon

Experts at Henley Business School have announced that the majority of the graduate workforce in the UK will be working with artificial intelligence on a daily basis by 2030, with technology such as ‘AI assistants’ expected to be commonplace in the next decade. New research released at the Henley annual World of Work 2030 conference, claims that a third (35 percent) of UK workers are excited about the prospect of their own personal AI assistant. With the average worker currently spending 3.5 hours a week on admin tasks, assistants’ could give workers back 12 working days a year (over two working weeks) by taking on these activities and freeing up time for more productive tasks.

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Millions of older workers fear poor health will shorten their working lives

Even though the age of the working population in the UM continues to rise, more than half of over fifties people have concerns around work and its impact on their health as they age, with women (61 percent) particularly worried about this. According to the study from Aviva, 13 percent intend never to stop work completely although only 14 percent of older workers say their workplace culture is positive towards them. According to Aviva’s latest Real Retirement study, 55 percent admit to fearing that work will become detrimental to their health or they might not be well enough to keep working, including 13 percent who say this is already an issue for them. Fewer than one in five (17 percent) over-50s workers say they have access to wellbeing advice and initiatives in the workplace which could help prevent health issues from impacting their careers.

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Precarious flexible working lives create toxic relationships between managers and workers, claims study

Precarious flexible working lives create toxic relationships between managers and workers, claims study

Millions of British workers are having their health and home life put at risk and are having to beg for extra work to make ends meet because bosses are not offering them regular work patterns, a new study from Oxford and Cambridge Universities suggests. According to the study, Powerful times: Flexible discipline and schedule gifts at work published in the journal Work, Employment and Society, around 4.6 million people are subject to ‘precarious scheduling’ from employers which means that their hours are so inconsistent and unpredictable that they cannot make plans, leading to stress and problems in their home lives. The researchers said that many workers now find themselves in ‘degrading’ relationships with managers in which they are obliged to constantly ask for more work and changes to allow them to care for children and plan their domestic and recreational lives.
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Extending the length of working lives could boost UK GDP by £80 billion

Extending the length of working lives could boost UK GDP by £80 billion 0

The UK could boost its GDP by around 4.2 percent (around £80 billion at today’s values) if the employment rate of workers aged over 55 could match that of Sweden, the highest performing EU country, according to a new PwC analysis comparing the employment of older workers across 34 OECD countries. There is a 12 percentage point gap between the employment rates of workers aged 55-64  in the UK and Sweden. PwC’s Golden Age Index is a weighted average of indicators – including employment, earnings and training – that reflect the labour market impact of workers aged over 55. The UK has remained middling in the rankings since 2003, falling by one place from 18th in 2014 from 19th in 2015. The report suggests that extending working lives could have a transformational effect on the economy.

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A reminder to look beyond what we see every day of our working lives

A reminder to look beyond what we see every day of our working lives 0

_87223357_8_my_pod_by_peter_murrell cropThe Chartered Institute of Building has just announced the finalists of this year’s Art of Building Photographer of the Year. The competition attracts thousands of entries from around the world each year and you are free to vote on your favourite to determine this year’s winner. The image that struck me most from this year’s shortlist was one that told its own stories about the way we live. The photographer Peter Murrell has called his picture My Pod to describe both our personal immersion in the digital world but also how we often cocoon ourselves in the physical world too, adopting spaces temporarily like hermit crabs. This idea is part of the daily experience of commuters but is beautifully encapsulated by the photographer here. The image, fully rendered on the next page, is also a reminder to step out from what we see each day and look for narratives and meaning in the mundane.

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Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

Father and son walk on beach showing need for flexible workingMen feel frustrated in their jobs and discriminated against at work and want a better balance between work and family life in much the same way as women, according to the results of the annual survey by workingdads and workingmums. One in four dads said they’d had time off work due to mental illness, with a third of those citing the stress of work and home. Around half of working dads said their career had stalled since they became a father. Almost 70 percent admitted they feel stuck in their current role because they fear they wouldn’t be able to find another job with the amount of flexible working they need. More →

New report aims to increase use of modern flexible working practices to improve lives of employees

New report aims to increase use of modern flexible working practices to improve lives of employees

flexible working

Businesses are being urged to increase their use flexible working practices in a bid to improve the lives of staff and end gender discrimination in the workplace. According to the report, A Manifesto for Change: A Modern Workplace for a Flexible Workforce, one of the main barriers to gender equality is employers’ reluctance to adoptnon-traditional working practices. The report calls on employers to embrace flexible working. The report from Timewise and Deloitte sets out a five point action plan, which it claims will enable UK businesses to bring about the change needed to address ‘outdated’ working practices. The plan is based on findings from a a survey of almost 2,000 professional workers, 92 percent of whom are women, as well as interviews with UK business leaders.

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