November 28, 2018
New report challenges idea that productivity has no link with income
A new IZA World of Labor report published today suggests that workers’ effort may be more responsive to wage incentives and therefore the efficiency costs of progressive labour income taxation larger than previously thought. A fundamental question in economic policy is how labour supply responds to changes in remuneration. The responsiveness of labour supply determines the size of the employment impact and efficiency loss of progressive income taxation for example. The economist Tess Stafford of the University of New South Wales, Australia, summarises a number of recent studies of independent contractors’ labour supply which confirm a key prediction of economic theory: workers work more (in fact, quite a bit more) when earnings are temporarily high.
Generation Z, the latest generation to enter the workforce, are more likely to be motivated by job satisfaction and working for social good than by money, a new report claims According to new research from Huawei, in partnership with Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation at Goldsmiths, University of London, based on responses from 2,000 18-25-year olds’ across the UK, also reveals that a new tribe of working professionals among Gen Z is emerging, the ‘New Working Order’. 
A new report has been published which argues that FM has the power, and responsibility to contribute towards social, economic and political betterment, but to do so the sector needs to be more explicit in the value it offers. Sustainability in facilities management: A Holistic View’ from Active Workplace Solutions claims to explore sustainability within the built environment, analyses how the facilities management (FM) sector can impact wider environmental, social and economic goals and build a holistic strategic picture of sustainability. 
IT analyst Gartner has forecasted that by 2022 cloud will make up almost a third of IT spending, but only a quarter of SMEs are properly prepared for it, claims a new study. The Missed Middle study, commissioned by Crown Workspace, found that three quarters of UK SMEs are failing to embrace workplace technologies such as cloud, mobile working and digital devices. This could impact their business agility, security and financial efficiency. Cost is the most common barrier preventing SMEs from creating the optimum workspace that features modern technology. For instance voice technology has seen huge adoption over the past few years, however less than one in five respondents are ready for it in the workplace. 
Take-up of office space in Central London has shown a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, reaching 1.3m sq ft in October, according to CBRE. Take-up was strong from creative firms, representing 18 percent of all deals, including the largest deal of the month which saw McCann Erickson take 146,400 sq ft at 135 Bishopsgate EC2. Flexible office operators took 122,300 sq ft of space during the month, bringing the proportion of take-up represented by the flexible office sector in the last 12 months to 19 percent. The largest flex acquisition in October saw Landmark Spaces acquire 37,800 sq ft at Portman House in the West End. 
One year on from #MeToo – just one in four workers agree that international media coverage has helped to improve their workplace culture, according to new research on sexual harassment from Acas. The workplace experts commissioned the study from YouGov to find out whether media reporting on #MeToo and high-profile celebrity cases have had any effect on British workplaces. Only a third (30 percent) of survey respondents believe that incidents of sexual harassment in workplaces have decreased in the last five years. 
