Smart cities infrastructure investment to top US$375 billion in 2030

Smart cities infrastructure investment to top US$375 billion in 2030

smart citiesAccording to technology intelligence firm ABI Research, investments in urban infrastructure aimed at implementing new visions for smart cities will reach US$375 billion by 2030 as cities invest in brownfield and greenfield projects. Drivers behind urban innovation are numerous but both the digitalisation of lifestyles, accelerated by Covid-19, and the increasingly pressing need to address climate change are powerful engines for metropolitan transformation. Additional agents of change include the call for more equity and inclusiveness, scalable economic development, and more affordable living. More →

Social mobility is restricted by lack of confidence and support in careers

Social mobility is restricted by lack of confidence and support in careers

social mobilityA new report from Totaljobs and the Social Mobility Foundation claims that the social mobility of millions of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds is hampered by a lack of confidence in choice of career and lower levels of support from families and friends. Of those that started their first job in the last two years, only 50 percent from lower socioeconomic backgrounds said they were confident about eventually being able to do the job they want. This contrasts with the 71 percent of those from more privileged, professional backgrounds. This gap has widened since the pandemic. More →

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

Toxic workplace culture impacting the mental health of almost half of workforce

toxic workplaceTwo in five employees across the UK have experienced problematic behaviour, such as bullying, harassment or discrimination at work; with 42 percent confirming toxic workplace culture has impacted their mental health, according to research from Culture Shift. The study (registration) also claims over one third have felt silenced on issues that matter to them in the workplace, while 29 percent have taken time off due to an incident that happened at work, such as bullying, harassment, discrimination or sexual misconduct. A further 41 percent confirmed bad workplace culture has impacted their productivity and 42 percent have previously left a job due to negative workplace culture. More →

More firms sign up to WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

More firms sign up to WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

Net Zero Carbon Buildings CommitmentWorldGBC has announced 44 businesses who have signed up to the market-leading whole life carbon requirements of the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment), pledging to take increased action to decarbonise the built environment across their portfolios and business activities, representing annual turnover of $85 billion. More →

Manchester’s office market set to be fuelled by growth in SMEs

Manchester’s office market set to be fuelled by growth in SMEs

Manchester'sManchester’s office market could see a boost thanks to its 22,850 SME businesses says Cluttons, who have recently launched an office on King Street in the City. Recent research by distribution company Citisprint highlighted that Manchester’s SMEs are also the most confident with 33 percent saying their business is in better shape post-pandemic, and 52 percent expecting to grow in the next 12 months. More →

Three in four IT departments face critical skills gaps

Three in four IT departments face critical skills gaps

ITSkillsoft (NYSE: SKIL), has released its annual Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report, exploring the current state of skills gaps, training and development, compensation, and job satisfaction in the IT industry. More →

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year

hybrid workingHybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year by giving workers more time to look after themselves and their families, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More →

Built environment sector lacks clarity around its carbon emissions

Built environment sector lacks clarity around its carbon emissions

environmentAccording to new research, the majority (58 percent) of built environment professionals believe the sector is already doing enough to tackle its carbon impact, despite the built environment contributing 36 percent of total global energy-related CO2 emissions, and the most recent available data highlighting that CO2 from operational energy use of buildings reached its highest level yet in 2019. More →

Commercial property markets in major UK cities won’t meet sustainability targets

Commercial property markets in major UK cities won’t meet sustainability targets

Bristol commercial propertySix of the UK’s key regional economic centres risk not achieving their net zero targets, unless significant action is taken to upgrade and improve their commercial property in the next 10 years, according to new analysis by JLL. The report, Sustainability and Value in the Regions, suggests that 90 percent of the office stock in England and Wales’ largest regional office markets is at risk of not meeting the UK government’s target for all non-domestic properties to have an EPC B rating by 2030. These findings come at a time when three of the cities analysed – Birmingham, Bristol (pictured) and Cardiff – have committed to achieving net zero status by 2030. Leeds and Manchester, both aim to be net zero by 2038. More →

Parents are less productive when they feel childcare eats into work-time

Parents are less productive when they feel childcare eats into work-time

childcareParents who feel shame about childcare responsibilities eating into their work-time are less productive when they are working than those who do not feel ashamed, according to new research by Durham University Business School. More →

Majority of employees lack confidence in their company’s return-to-work strategy

Majority of employees lack confidence in their company’s return-to-work strategy

employeesHumanyze has released the second installment of the 2021 Future of Work Report, a holistic analysis of the evolution of work throughout the pandemic and employee sentiments about the post-pandemic future of the workplace. Nearly 2,300 survey responses were collected from individual employees and people managers, and compared to responses from the spring 2021 report, to identify key changes over the last 6 months. More →

Over half of UK employees believe AI skills will make their job easier

Over half of UK employees believe AI skills will make their job easier

employeesAccording to new global research from ABBYY, six-in-ten (64 percent) UK employees say their job is made more difficult through trouble accessing data in documents and one-in-four (27 percent) lose a full day of productivity per week searching documents for information they need to serve customers, higher than the global average. More →