April 1, 2026
The overwhelming majority of UK workers don’t do anything productive at all, according to a new report published today. The study of available research into the illnesses, injuries, distractions, wastes of time, procrastinations, productivity drains and paralyses that afflict British workers found that the annual cost to the British economy is around £1.8 trillion, equivalent to 98.9 percent of GDP.
March 28, 2026
A major international study claims that team enjoyment is the strongest perceived driver of productivity, challenging long-standing assumptions about how organisations improve performance. The Global Workplace Happiness Report, published by The Happiness Index in partnership with employee benefits provider Pluxee, draws on responses from 80,000 employees across 115 countries. It suggests that social and emotional factors play a more significant role in productivity than operational systems such as workload management or process design. The poll also found that British workers are more likely to say they are happy and productive than their US and German contemporaries. (more…)
March 23, 2026
A cross-party group of parliamentarians, business leaders and experts has warned that non-disclosure agreements are “good for no-one” when used to conceal harmful behaviour in the workplace rather than address it. The warning followed a roundtable held in Parliament on 18 March, hosted by the Policy Liaison Group on Workplace Wellbeing. Participants agreed that while NDAs can serve a legitimate purpose, their use to mask harassment or discrimination risks undermining accountability and eroding trust within organisations. (more…)
March 12, 2026
New research from Gensler suggests that employees who make the greatest use of artificial intelligence tools are also among the most connected to their colleagues, challenging assumptions that increased use of technology leads to more isolated ways of working. The firm’s 2026 Global Workplace Survey gathered responses from more than 16,400 office workers across 16 countries. Around 30 percent of respondents were identified as “AI power users”, defined as people who regularly use AI tools in both their work and personal lives. (more…)
March 9, 2026
More than two-thirds of managers would rather not be managers at all, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by SafetyCulture. According to the poll, 69 percent of team leaders in frontline sectors across the UK and Ireland would prefer not to manage people if there was no impact to their salary or benefits. Younger generations are the least willing to be managers. Nearly three-quarters of Generation Z and Millennial managers (73 percent) say they’d rather be individual workers compared to 65 percent of people aged 50 or older. (more…)
February 16, 2026
New research from the CIPD suggests the Government’s Employment Rights Act could discourage employers from recruiting permanent staff, add to business costs and increase workplace conflict. The findings come from the CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook, based on a survey of more than 2,000 UK employers. It reports that overall hiring intentions remain at their lowest level on record outside the first year of the pandemic. (more…)
January 28, 2026
Leadership consultant and change specialist Jennifer Bryan has launched a new book examining the often-overlooked emotional dimension of organisational change. The Emotional Side of Organizational Change: How to Survive and Thrive focuses on how leaders can better support people through uncertainty, transformation and disruption by placing human emotion at the centre of change strategies. (more…)
January 15, 2026
New research by specialist employment law firm Littler, based on 2024-25 data from HM Revenue & Customs, suggests there has been a 12 percent rise in the number of people working past retirement age over the past five years up from 1.39 million in the year to March 31 2020-21 to 1.56 million in the year to March 31 2024-25. The firm claims that, with the number of older people in the workplace growing, employers need to be more proactive to avoid age discrimination and prevent conflicts from developing between workers of very different generations. Although these conflicts are often seen as just workplace ‘banter’ they can cross the line to the point an employee feels they have been unlawfully discriminated against. For instance, where workplace ‘jokes’ have a repeated ageist element or stereotypes about young or old people stray into being seen as unlawful harassment. (more…)
January 14, 2026
WORKTECH Academy has published a new trends report setting out what it describes as the key forces reshaping work, workplace and workforce strategy in 2026. The report, The World of Work in 2026, claims to identify twenty trends grouped into four “megatrends”: Human Performance Reset, Workplaces Without Walls, Sustainable Growth and Back to Basics. Together, they suggest organisations are moving away from short-term fixes and “spectacle”, and towards building long-term resilience through adaptability and human capability. (more…)
January 8, 2026
Workers are placing greater emphasis on job security, fair pay and employer support for flexibility, according to new global research from the Adecco Group, which suggests the so called Great Resignation has given way to a more cautious approach to how ambitious people would like to seem. The Workforce Trends 2025 report [registration] is based on responses from 37,500 workers and 2,000 senior executives across 31 countries. It finds that while employees continue to value growth, flexibility and meaningful work, these priorities are increasingly secondary to stable income and employment certainty as economic and social uncertainty persists. (more…)
January 5, 2026
The contemporary American professional landscape is at a turning point. While people are sticking with their employers, they feel more disconnected than ever. Gallup calls this the ‘Great Detachment’. (more…)
January 19, 2026
Forget all the talk of Blue Monday; work is still (largely) good for us
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Wellbeing, Workplace