Report calls for more support for working carers, including flexible working

Report calls for more support for working carers, including flexible working

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

office design and facilities managementThe UK’s Work and Pensions Committee has published a report detailing recommendations on how working carers can be better supported by both employers and the government. This includes proposals to make the right to request flexible working available from an employee’s first day. The report, Employment support for carers: thirteenth report of session 2017-19, seeks to offer advice on how working carers can be better supported to remain in or enter employment. The report covers recommendations for the existing state benefits system around the carers’ allowance, potential changes to employment policies and also how the government can act as a model employer in this space.

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UK technology sectors continues to outpace rest of the economy, and not just in London

UK technology sectors continues to outpace rest of the economy, and not just in London

by • News, Technology

The UK’s digital technology sector continues to grow faster than the rest of the economy, according to the latest Tech Nation Report for 2018. Turnover of digital tech companies grew by 4.5 percent between 2016-17 compared to UK GDP which grew by 1.7 percent over the same period. This means that the tech sector grew at 2.6 times faster than the rest of the economy. At the same time the number of jobs in digital tech rose five times the rate of the rest of the economy, demonstrating how the digital tech sector is one of the best performing sectors in the UK economy. 2017 proved to be an amazing year for the UK digital tech sector with some of the biggest fundraisings and exits seen in years, as international investors flocked to fund UK-based firms, according to the report. British digital tech companies raised £4.5bn in venture capital investment during the year, almost double the previous year.

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Overall wellbeing of UK continues to increase, according to official data

Overall wellbeing of UK continues to increase, according to official data

by • News, Wellbeing

smiley coffee

New government statistics suggest that the general wellbeing and happiness of the UK population has increased over the last twelve months. According to the Office for National Statistics’ annual report on wellbeing, Britons are more contented now than at any point since the study was first published seven years ago. The latest report is based on an analysis of responses to the ONS, which asked people to rank out of ten how happy they were on the previous day, to what extent they regarded their lives as worthwhile, how satisfied they were with life, and how anxious they were generally. For 2017, average happiness was calculated at 7.53 out of ten, living worthwhile lives at 7.88, and life satisfaction at 7.69. There was no significant change in anxiety levels, which currently average at 2.91 out of ten, the ONS said.

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Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, boosted by pre-let activity

Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, boosted by pre-let activity

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, driven by pre-let activityCentral London commercial offices under offers are at the highest point in the last 12 months and take-up is ahead of 2017 levels compared with this point last year, new data from CBRE has shown.  Central London office take-up for April 2018 stood at 547,900 sq ft, largely driven by pre-letting activity. Office take-up for the year to the end April 2018 was 4 percent higher than the corresponding period in 2017, standing at 3.4m sq ft. Take-up was boosted by 139,600 sq ft of pre-letting activity. Over the last 12 months, the business services sector has represented the largest proportion of take-up at 32 percent, driven by a large number of deals to flexible office providers. Take-up in April was dominated by the creative industries sector, accounting for 44 percent of take-up. The banking and finance sector (26 percent) and the business services sector (21 percent) also represented notable proportions of take-up in April.

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Employees’ overwhelming view is they are being held back from developing their career

Employees’ overwhelming view is they are being held back from developing their career

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Employees' overwhelming feedback is they are being held back in developing their career

Half (49 percent) of UK workers believe their current job offers little to no chance for career progression and out of 1,000 UK workers asked about the state of their career progression including the prospects for advancement, not one felt they had the right level of support from managers. The survey by Qualtrics claims that just 7 percent believe there is a great deal of opportunity to progress their career in their organisation. It’s a marked difference from October 2017, when the number of employees saying they had a significant opportunity for career progression was 17 percent. The research suggests the pessimistic outlook could be down to a lack of acknowledgment and support at work. Of those claiming to have little or no opportunities for career progression, the data found that 71 percent are given little to no change to trying out new things that interest them, all of them (100 percent) say they don’t receive the right level of support from managers and 49 percent rarely receive consistent acknowledgement for doing good work.

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Bosses warned about major leadership changes in a tech-driven economy

Bosses warned about major leadership changes in a tech-driven economy

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Bosses warned about major leadership changes in a tech-driven worldWith companies holding ever greater amounts of data and facing heightened scrutiny through social media, employers need to consider the wider implications of their business decisions. This was the message of the President of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), who has warned business leaders and students in Birmingham of the challenges facing bosses in the rapidly evolving tech and data-driven economy. Speaking at the annual MacLaren Memorial Lecture at Aston University, Bruce Carnegie-Brown told the 200-strong audience that the digital revolution is having a transformative effect on the priorities of business leaders, which pose new management challenges. “The growth of social media has made an invaluable contribution in democratising the control of information, he said by, “increasing transparency through universalising access to data and doing it in real time”. Carnegie-Brown, who is also the chairman of Lloyd’s of London, added: “With information more accessible than ever before, those that own or collect data find themselves with huge amounts of power – both social and commercial. But with great power comes great responsibility and balancing these two forces is the greatest leadership challenge of today’s generation of business leaders.”

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Use of tech in the evening linked to sleep disruption and a range of serious mood disorders

Use of tech in the evening linked to sleep disruption and a range of serious mood disorders

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing

People should not use their laptops and mobile phones in the evening if they want to avoid sleep disruption and a range of mood disorders, including depression, claims new research from the University of Glasgow. The largest study so far into the link between disrupted body clocks and mood disorders and wellbeing has been published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. The research into the behaviour of 91,000 people shows that disrupted body clock rhythms are associated with increased susceptibility to depression, bipolar disorder, and adverse wellbeing. According to the study, disturbances to the body’s internal clock, characterised by increased activity during rest periods and/or inactivity during the day, are also associated with mood instability, more subjective loneliness, lower happiness and health satisfaction, and worse cognitive function.

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Jobs vacuum due to high employment and skills shortage is creating a war for talent

Jobs vacuum due to high employment and skills shortage is creating a war for talent

by • News, Workplace

Jobs vacuum due to high employment and skills shortage is creating a war for talent

Figures published yesterday showed that the jobless rate has fallen to 4.2 percent, the lowest since 1975 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). While good news for the economy, the challenge for employers will be recruitment. On average, over 40,000 job vacancies are left unfilled for over six months according to research by Robert Half UK. The figure doubles to 80,000 for roles left vacant for more than a month. The findings come following research into the UK job market looking at trends in the modern workplace which confirmed that high employment coupled with an ongoing skills crisis is leading companies to face a war for talent which is leaving many positions unfilled. A lack of skilled candidates (51 percent) tops the list of challenges, whilst difficulties in finding the right talent follows close behind (30 percent). Even when the right person has been found, many firms aren’t hiring fast enough and end up missing out on their preferred candidate (28 percent). UK organisations clearly recognise the detrimental effect that unfilled roles can have on their business. Reduced productivity (42 percent), increased stress (42 percent) and limited business growth (38 percent) are cited as the main consequences – all of which can cripple a firm’s performance.

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People like to hold on to their smartphones even when not using them

People like to hold on to their smartphones even when not using them

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A large number of people walk around with their smartphones in their hands even when they are not using them, according to a new study. In the study, The Phone Walkers: A study of human dependence on inactive mobile devices, researchers  Laura Schaposnik and James Unwin at the University of Illinois at Chicago studied over 3,000 adult pedestrians at six city center locations in Paris. Just over half the pedestrians were female, with an average age of about 35. Of the total adults observed, 674 were phone walkers – just over a fifth of people. The researchers noted that there were significant differences between the sexes. In total, around 20 percent of men were phone walkers, compared with 33 percent women. However, phone walking was less common in mixed couples: just 18 percent.

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Workplace aggression can lead to vicious circle of misconduct

Workplace aggression can lead to vicious circle of misconduct

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) claims that frequently being the target of workplace aggression not only affects the victim’s health but can also cause them to behave badly towards others. Workplace aggression is a significant issue particularly in the healthcare sector, where nurses can be targeted by both their colleagues and co-workers through bullying, and by patients and their relatives through ‘third-party’ aggression. While workplace aggression has been examined in relation to the health-related consequences for victims, less is known about the possible negative impact it may have on their own behaviour at work. The findings of this study suggest that the experience of anger and fear associated with being the target of aggression at work could lead some nurses to translate the emotions that are triggered into misconduct, possibly disregarding professional and ethical codes. (more…)

Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Workers fake physical sickness to mask mental health issues due to stigma worries

Two fifths (42 percent) of UK employees are calling in sick claiming a physical illness, when in reality it’s a mental health issue, new research from BHSF has claimed. The research was commissioned to raise awareness of employee wellbeing during  Mental Health Awareness Week, a campaign hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, which has stress as its focus this year.  The survey found that 24 percent of employees worry that if they did need to take a sick day, they wouldn’t be taken seriously. Over half (56 percent) of employees admitted to suffering from stress, a third from anxiety (36 percent) and a quarter from depression (25 percent). Despite 46 percent admitting that work is the main cause of their health problems, just 15 percent would tell their boss if they were struggling with an issue of this nature.

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Employers face increasing challenge in finding the right person for the job warns CIPD

Employers face increasing challenge in finding the right person for the job warns CIPD

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Employers face increasing challenge in finding the right person for the job warns CIPD

Employment prospects in the UK are improving, as the number of vacancies in the UK economy remain well above historic average levels, but the CIPD is warning that employers’ demand for skills and labour may not be met by supply. The latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD and The Adecco Group shows that employers’ near-term employment expectations have risen to a five-year high. This continued growth in demand for labour, while highlighting employer optimism, is set to lead to a further tightening of the UK labour market for employers, making it harder for them to find the skills and labour they need. Almost two-thirds (61 percent) of employers in the survey said that at least some of their vacancies are proving hard to fill.  By comparison, just over half (56 percent) of employers reported that they were currently having difficulty filling vacancies in their organisation during the same period in 2017. In response, more than a quarter (28 percent) said that they are raising wages to tackle their recruitment difficulties. The report authors also suggest that offering staff more flexible work and collaborative spaces could help with recruitment and retention.

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