August 4, 2016
Office workers spend half their average week working remotely 0
New research suggests that UK workers are overwhelmingly turning their back on the standard 9-5 office life with 72 percent agreeing that it’s not relevant for the 21st century. Working remotely and flexibly makes them more effective in their job said 82 percent of respondents to the TeamViewer report ‘The End of Nine-to-Five’ with 73 percent agreeing that having the ability to work flexibly makes them feel more valued and 82 percent that all employees should be offered flexible working hours without it affecting their career. With 79 percent of people rating work-life balance as more important than salary, the report suggests it is critical for businesses to ensure they are offering more than just monetary incentives, as almost half (49 percent) say that flexible working hours would be the most important factor to them when looking for a new job. According to the survey, UK office workers are already spending on average 2.5 days, half of their week, working remotely.
A new survey by office products supplier Viking claims that a third of workers suffer from stress and yet have no one to talk to about it. The authors of the study claims that these findings correlate strongly with people’s overall levels of fulfilment at work, with 46 percent of those surveyed saying they had negative thoughts about their job several times a week. When it comes to a person’s working environment, the results showed that office workers were more stressed than those working from home. Factors that contributed to these stress levels included working overtime, not taking enough breaks, having no one to talk to, job satisfaction, pressure to succeed. It’s no surprise that a lack of breaks is causing stress, with half of office workers admitting to taking no breaks at all during the day, excluding lunch. Conversely, a massive 61 percent of people working from home said they took two to three breaks throughout the day.
The legal status of people working in the gig economy must be clarified so that businesses and individuals can thrive, according to a new report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). 
Screening sporting events in the workplace may increase productivity, according to research released by employment law specialist Peninsula. In a survey of 894 employees across the UK, 64 percent reported being more productive as being allowed to watch sporting events at work. The survey, which claims to examine how businesses managed employees during the first half of the summer of sports also revealed that 46 percent of employees want clearer policies regarding watching sporting events at work. This related to the fact that employers only showed certain games during Euro2016 and didn’t show any of the Wimbledon tournament. 51 percent of respondents also called for employers to be more flexible during major sporting games allowing them to start late, leave early or swap with colleagues. 24 percent said that a lack of flexibility would encourage their decision to call in sick in order to watch their favourite sporting event.
A new study published to coincide with Smarter Working Day (today, apparently) claims that almost half of UK workers (48 percent) don’t think their current employee benefits package is tailored to their needs. The study of 1,000 UK workers published by payroll lending provider SalaryFinance claims that 38 percent of UK workers currently have access to flexible working although only 26 percent say they prefer the chance of flexible working to financial and psychological wellbeing benefits. Fewer than one in five (19 percent) currently have access to benefits designed to support mental wellbeing, such as counselling services, and only one in four (26 percent) receive financial wellbeing support from their employer. In contrast, one in three (32 percent) receive ad hoc incentives such as free lunches, birthday cakes and duvet days. With 58 percent of people saying that their employer has never asked for feedback on their benefits programme, employers could be falling out of touch with the needs of staff, claims the research.
A rapidly ageing workforce is not just a challenge for Western economies. The government of China, the world’s second largest economy, has announced that it expects its workforce to decline by nearly a quarter (23 percent) between now and 2050 as the population ages and more and more jobs are automated. The Government is now considering raising the retirement age from 59 to 65 ahead of an anticipated sharp decline in the numbers of people of working age after 2030, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. A spokesman for the ministry forecast a fall of 211 million people of working age to 700 million by 2050. China’s demographic challenge is mirrored in many countries but has its own characteristics thanks to its strict and controversial decades-long 
