Government targets 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases from the built environment

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK government has set some ambitious targets for construction and the environmental performance of buildings following the announcement of a Sector Deal for the construction sector. The sector deal was an integral part of the Industrial Strategy White Paper published earlier this week. In a statement, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark revealed more details of the deal supported by £170m of government investment and £250m of match funding from the built environment sector. The announcement sets out ambitious new targets for the built environment and infrastructure including a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases and a third reduction in the costs of construction and whole life costs of buildings.

(more…)

Location of workplace matters when it comes to workplace performance

by • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace

Employers can make major performance and productivity improvements by taking a more strategic approach to where they place their people, a new report suggests. Organisations with the closest alignment between their geographical talent footprint and market opportunity tend to be most productive and profitable claims Right people, wrong place?, a new EY report in collaboration with LinkedIn. The report analysed 659 organisations of varied size and scale across 11 sectors and revealed that those that poorly match their workforce to the global sub-sector growth markets are potentially leaving hundreds of millions of dollars of opportunity on the table. Bringing together a combined analysis of current and projected industry market performance from EY with LinkedIn’s insights from more than 530 million members, the report validates and quantifies the value of maximising the alignment between workforce location and market opportunity.

(more…)

Tech faults and slow Internet speeds negatively impact productivity

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

Almost eleven working days are lost every year as a result of technology faults and failures a new report claims and complaints of slow Internet speeds compound the issue. A survey of 2,000 UK workers commissioned by IT provider Probrand.co.uk claims that 262 hours and 43 minutes are lost every year due to technology faults and failures, the equivalent to almost 11 working days each year. The majority of workers (76 percent) said that the technical faults they experienced directly impacted their productivity in work. More than half (54 percent) of workers said that most of the faults they endure are due to their computers crashing or running slowly. But the research also found that 48 percent of respondents blame poor internet speeds and connectivity problems for working hours lost. When faced with a technical issue, more than 1 in 3 (35 percent) workers would turn to a colleague first instead of an IT support provider, while 32 percent would search for solutions to technology related issues before contacting their technical support team. 

(more…)

New study measures the effect of reduced working hours on productivity and inequality.

by • News, Technology, Workplace

A new report in the journal IZA World of Labor claims that working hours across the world are falling, but to varying degrees and there is a measurable impact on productivity and workplace inequality in the countries surveyed. In particular low skilled workers are working fewer hours while highly educated workers are often working more which affects the inequality gap between rich and poor. Working hours across the world are falling, but considerable variation remains. In some countries people work 70 percent more hours per year, on average, than in other countries. According to the economist Peter Dolton of the University of Sussex, countries with low working hours such as Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Austria, have had governments enact progressive interventionist labour market policies and are notable for the presence of strong, well-organised trade unions. The report is available in both English and German.  (more…)

Boosting skills is the key to improving sluggish growth and productivity

by • News, Workplace

The United Kingdom has record-high employment levels and very low jobless rates compared to most OECD countries. However, labour productivity growth remains weak and the job prospects of many adults are hurt by their poor literacy and numeracy skills. To boost growth, productivity and earnings, the UK should encourage lifelong learning among adults and promote better skills utilisation, according to a new OECD report. Getting Skills Right: United Kingdom says that educational attainment has been rising in the UK, with 42 percent of adults having a tertiary degree, compared with 34 percent across the OECD. Sixteen per cent graduate in the field of sciences, more than in any other OECD country, and nearly half of science graduates are women. The share of young adults enrolled in vocational education and training has risen to 43 percent but remains lower than in many other European countries. Apprenticeships are also less popular, pursued by around 24 percent of upper secondary students, compared to 59 percent in Switzerland or 41 percent in Germany.

(more…)

London office construction declines to three year low

by • Cities, News, Property

The development of new offices in central London has declined, according to the latest London Office Crane Survey by Deloitte Real Estate. Construction activity now totals 12.6 million sq ft, a 9 percent drop since the previous survey (six months ago). The survey reports 25 new office schemes starting construction, adding 1.8 million sq ft into the development pipeline. This is the lowest amount of new space started in over three years and 21 percent below the crane survey average. Refurbishment schemes once again dominate the new starts with 16 offices accounting for 70 percent of the volume. However, refurbishments are generally smaller scale than new-builds so the average size of schemes starting this survey has fallen to 73,000 sq ft, lower than the long-term average of 97,000 sq ft.

(more…)

Government unveils Industrial Strategy to boost productivity and wealth

by • News, Property, Technology

The UK government has published its ‘ambitious’ Industrial Strategy, which it claims sets out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK. With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next 3 years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million to ‘transform the construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy’

(more…)

Employers holding back on publishing gender pay for fear of standing out

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

 

Most employers have already calculated their pay gap, but research by XpertHR suggests they’re holding back on reporting their findings for fear of standing out if they publish early. Organisations with 250 or more employees have to publish their gender pay and bonus gaps by April 2018 in order to comply with Regulations that came into effect this year. However, with less than six months to go, only 6 percent of the estimated 4,000 employers covered by the new law have complied. Despite the low reporting rate to date, more than one in four ( 26.5 percent) mid-sized companies (those with 250-999 employees) and more than half (51.5 percent ) of larger companies (with 1,000+ employees) have already calculated their pay gaps. Anecdotally, some have told researchers that they are waiting to see what other companies in their sector do before publishing – or that they want there to be a large number of reports in the public domain before they release their own figures.

(more…)

Just five coworkers are the source of all workplace irritations for most people at work, claims study

by • News, Workplace

A survey of 2,000 US workers carried out by researchers at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois claims that while everybody get irritated at work at times, for most people the source of those irritations is just a handful of their colleagues. Only 2 percent of respondents claim to find 10 or more of their coworkers irritating.  The healthcare and insurance industries have the highest number of annoying coworkers and 40 percent of the respondents who work in fashion/art and retail claim to be the most annoyed on a regular basis. 48 percent of respondents claim general loudness and complaining, followed by 31 percent who said gossiping and bullying behaviour was most annoying about their colleagues. Respondents in communications and journalism have the most gossipy workplaces, and because those industries are people-centric, discussing others’ business becomes a workplace side effect.

(more…)

Workers would be prepared to take a pay cut for an agile working life

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

A new survey claims that the ability to accommodate agile working into their life is important, with those who prefer to work agile claiming they would sacrifice an average of 16 percent of their annual salary for the opportunity.In addition to this, 86 percent stated they would even change jobs to accommodate their preference. The report into recruiting for an agile workforce suggests that despite being a relatively new concept, over half surveyed were familiar with it and over 22 percent of those had worked in an agile environment for over two years. However, recruiters claim less than half of the roles they’re working on offer agile, finding it’s most prevalent in the IT sector. The study reveals both recruiters and candidates believe the key attributes for success in agile are being flexible, organised and hardworking. Interestingly, the majority of recruiters believe these are required in advance and cannot be developed on the job. Meanwhile, social qualities (like being introverted or outgoing) or being easy going are less important.

(more…)

BPF submits real estate sector deal proposal to government

by • News, Property

The British Property Federation (BPF) has announced it has submitted a Sector Deal proposal to government on behalf of the real estate industry. The announcement follows yesterday’s publication of the government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper – and of the first three Sector Deals committing industry and government to achieving the Industrial Strategy’s ambition in partnership. The real estate Sector Deal proposal sets out how the real estate industry underpins the UK’s economic and social wellbeing, and how it will be essential to the delivery of other Sector Deals including construction. The proposal ‘seeks a partnership with government where both sides are working together to maximise the real estate industry’s contribution to the economy, and to creating infrastructure and great places to live, work and relax across the country’.

(more…)

OECD publishes major new work on measuring the quality of the working environment

by • News, Workplace design

The OECD has published a major new report which it claims set out an internationally agreed set of guidelines to measure the quality of the working environment. The document covers a wide range of factors related to working conditions based on existing data and a survey of workers in 20 OECD countries. These characteristics of the working environment include risk factors, work intensity, discretion, autonomy and the opportunity for self-realisation. The guidelines have been produced as part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, which was launched in 2011 with the objective of measuring wellbeing. The report then goes on to set out guidelines for analysis based on sets of questions based on 17 workplace factors.

(more…)

«< 292 293 294 295 296 >»