Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

Mental health of finance workers seriously harmed by lockdown

mental healthMore than eight-in-ten London-based banking and finance professionals (86 percent) say Covid-19 lockdown has affected their mental health, according to a new survey of white-collar employees by Helix Resilience. According to the survey of 352 banking and finance professionals, over half (52 percent) of respondents claim to be less productive, and nearly four-in-ten (39 percent) say they find it difficult to concentrate outside the office. While most working in the sector (53 percent) feel their employer is doing enough to support their wellbeing during lockdown, a third (33 percent) do not feel supported. More →

Remote working productivity will slump as firms burn up their social capital

Remote working productivity will slump as firms burn up their social capital

remote workingEmployers are walking into remote working productivity slump, as people lose their visibility in an organisation, a new report claims. The survey from workplace software business Names & Faces claims that three quarters (75 percent) of people who report being more productive since working from home already know at least half of their company but that two thirds of people who don’t feel visible within their organisation have experienced a productivity drop while working from home. More →

From the archive: the future of work and place in the 21st Century

From the archive: the future of work and place in the 21st Century 0

future of work and placeHowever much we know about the forces we expect to come into play in our time and however much we understand the various social, commercial, legislative, cultural and economic parameters we expect to direct them, most predictions of the future tend to come out as refractions or extrapolations of the present. This is a fact tacitly acknowledged by George Orwell’s title for Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1948, and is always the pinch of salt we can apply to science fiction and most of the predictions we come across. More →

The loneliness of the long term flexible worker

The loneliness of the long term flexible worker

Flexible working arrangements are those whichallow employees to vary the amount, timing or location of their work and may include part-time working, mobile/home working, compressed hours or job-sharing – among others. Before the lockdown, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), more than half of all employees in the UK used at least one form of flexible working, while a study by Gallup in the US suggests as many as 43 percent of employees already worked flexibly. The practice has been found to have positive effects on job satisfaction, employee commitment, reducing work-family conflict – and for many is now an essential component of modern working life. More →

Majority of people looking forward to office return, but on their own terms

Majority of people looking forward to office return, but on their own terms

A new survey from Office Space in Town (OSiT) claims that the overwhelming majority of workers are looking forward to a return to the office. However, most also want to avoid the commute, have more control over their times and places of work and want new working environments that help them work better. They also have concerns that the return should be managed with their health and safety the priority. More →

UK workforce wants hybrid-working, not the end of the office

UK workforce wants hybrid-working, not the end of the office

The majority (77 percent) of UK employees say a mix of office-based and remote working is the best way forward post COVID-19, according to new research by the Adecco Group UK and Ireland. The global ‘Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work’ study, which surveyed 1,000 UK employees alongside workers in eight other countries to understand their desires and expectations for the world of work post COVID-19, found that 79 percent think it’s important that their company implements more flexibility in how and where staff can work. More →

Cracking the issue of work after lockdown

Cracking the issue of work after lockdown

Take any issue in the modern era and you’ll find a noisy schism. The big-endians and little-endians yelling at each other about the right way to eat a boiled egg, right over the heads of the majority of people who wonder if they’d be better off just having some toast and a nice cup of tea. Not that the toast-eaters can say anything without being accused by both sides of the divide of belonging to the other. More →

Research claims two in five workers not offered flexible working

Research claims two in five workers not offered flexible working

flexible workingAccording to research conducted by conference call provider PowWowNow and Censuswide, 40 per cent of UK employees are still not offered flexible working as part of their company’s policies. More →

Work from home advocates beckon us to a living hell

Work from home advocates beckon us to a living hell

flexible workingLook, I work from home. The liberal in me says: if you want to and can work from home, then why not? Yes, few of Britain’s cramped homes – especially those occupied by young people – are well equipped for home working, which can be stressful. But, as I say, I see no problem in working from home if you choose to. It’s one thing to say people should be free to work from home (WFH). It’s quite another to endorse it as the New Normal, the way to go, and as a path to a low-pollution, low-emissions paradise on Earth, as many are now doing. More →

Working parents and carers call for more flexible working post-COVID

Working parents and carers call for more flexible working post-COVID

flexible workingNew figures published today claim that more than 9 in 10 working parents and carers surveyed by work-life balance charity Working Families want their workplace to retain flexible working post-COVID-19.   More →

Half of workers feel more productive working from home

Half of workers feel more productive working from home

work from homeProductivity has increased due to the current lockdown situation, according to around half of  UK workers. The majority (56 percent) of workers who don’t usually work from home feel more productive than in the office. Despite this, 50 percent of those currently working from home are looking forward to their workplace reopening, although 70 percent hope their employer lets them work from home more often in future. Nearly half (45 percent) of workers would therefore welcome a flexible office arrangement that allows them to split working time between the office and home.  More →

Time to apply the lessons we learned during lockdown

Time to apply the lessons we learned during lockdown

Return to work after lockdownSo far, 2020 has not gone to plan. For businesses, and the people they employ, the next few months may be just as bumpy, as each country, state and city takes its own approach to a phased return to work after lockdown. Today, in Houston, offices are limited to 25 percent capacity, in London, the underground is capped at 13-15 percent capacity, while in New Zealand and other countries hospitality and retail are returning with heightened hygiene measures and social distancing in place. More →