Automation will lead to greater inequality rather than job losses

Automation will lead to greater inequality rather than job losses

by • AI, News, Technology

The total level of wages associated with jobs that have the technical potential to be automated in the UK is £290 billion per year, which represents 33 percent of all wages and earnings from labour in the economy, according to a new report published by IPPR  for the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice. The report further claims that low-wage jobs have more potential to be automated than high-wage jobs and so it’s not just automation’s impact on the number of jobs that need to be considered but the impact on inequality. If automation leads to lower average wages or working hours, or loss of jobs in aggregate, a significant amount of national income could be transferred from wages to profits. And while increased automation of activities will replace some workers and labour earnings, employment and wages will rise in other areas of the labour market due to higher output and productivity, offsetting some of the original £290 billion lost but increasing pay inequality.

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Seven workplace stories that made us think this week

Seven workplace stories that made us think this week

by • Features, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

white collar workers flee the workplaceIBM gives services staff until 2019 to get agile

White collar workers are fleeing their desks to craft a life

The future of real estate tech and how we got here

McMindfulness: Buddhism as sold to you by neoliberals

Why our jobs matter more now than ever before

A psychologist noticed this cool chair illusion in his workplace

How to think about artificial intelligence in real estate

Fifth of employees think the stated core values and vision of their company do not reflect reality

Fifth of employees think the stated core values and vision of their company do not reflect reality

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Fifth of employees don't think their company's core values and vision reflect the reality

Over a quarter (27 percent) of employees in the UK feel their organisation’s vision or values have too much corporate jargon and almost one in five (18 percent) say they don’t reflect what the company is actually like, claims a new survey. Research by Rungway found that more than half (52 percent) of employees can’t recite their organisation’s vision, and nearly half (49 percent) can’t recite their organisation’s values. Two in five (39 percent) also said they wish they had more involvement in contributing to their company’s vision and values. Among demographics, men (45 percent) are more likely than women (32 percent) to want to be involved in contributing to the company’s vision or values than women, and those aged 25 to 34-years-old are the most likely to be able to recite their company’s vision and values (both 64 percent). That said, they are also the most likely (31 percent) among age groups to say the vision and values have too much corporate jargon.

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Unnecessary meetings costing UK business more than £191bn a year

Unnecessary meetings costing UK business more than £191bn a year

by • News, Technology

UK office workers are spending almost an entire working day every week attending and preparing for unnecessary meetings, according to a new survey from meeting technology firm eShare. The average office worker spends 10 hours 42 minutes every week, preparing for and attending 4.4 meetings, with 2.6 of those deemed unnecessary. With the average meeting revealed to have 6.8 attendees, this equates to annual staff costs for unnecessary meetings per business of over £35,000, based on ONS average earnings data. With 5.4 million businesses in the UK, this means the total staff cost per year is more than £191bn, according to the firm.

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Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to inefficiencies at work

Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to inefficiencies at work

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to operational inefficiency

Nearly a third (29 percent) of UK workers say that they have become disengaged and a third (33 percent) have gone as far as looking for a new job due to the frustrations of dealing with workplace inefficiencies. Alongside functional frustrations, 50 per cent of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss. With 67 percent of them doing more hours in the office, 46 per cent working more on weekends and 56 per cent taking fewer breaks, nearly half (47 per cent) of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers. These are some of findings of the Digital Work Survey 2018 which was commissioned by Wrike that highlight frustrations over inefficiencies at work and the worrying impact this is having on how engaged, productive and happy employees are in their roles. Of those who were feeling most stressed, 66 per cent said that over the last two years they’ve seen increased expectations around the speed at which they must deliver work.

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Report calls for better understanding of the future risks of tech to workplace wellbeing

Report calls for better understanding of the future risks of tech to workplace wellbeing

by • AI, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Better understanding needed of the future risks of work to health, safety and wellbeingIn a workplace dominated by insecurity, gig work and intelligent machines we need to improve our understanding of their potential impact on health, safety and wellbeing claims a new report. Future risk: Impact of work on employee health, safety and wellbeing, commissioned by the British Safety Council from RobertsonCooper researchers argues that the public debate on the future of work has centred so far on the likely shape of the workplace and its implications for both employers and employees. There has been far less focus on what this might mean for workers’ health, safety and wellbeing, with discussions centring on the present, rather than preparing us for the challenges of the future. Yet, the impact of automation on the workplace will be more fundamental than is commonly understood, with 11 million jobs predicted to be lost in the next 20 years in the UK. As we are already seeing with some ‘gig’ working, it may undermine such basic human needs as social identity, economic security and a sense of belonging. The report reviews the existing literature on this subject and makes a number of recommendations.

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Built environment needs to address the talent gap to make the digital transition says WEF

Built environment needs to address the talent gap to make the digital transition says WEF

by • AI, Architecture, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Built environment needs to address the talent gap to make digital transition says WEFThe construction industry needs new talent and skills to help in the adoption of new technologies to meet the challenges of digital transformation. It must also become more diverse, including increasing the percentage of women in the industry. These are the recommendations of a new report from the World Economic Forum, developed in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Shaping the Future of Construction: An Action Plan to solve the Industry’s Talent Gap. The report argues that the Infrastructure and Urban Development (IU) industry has failed to innovate as quickly as other sectors, resulting in stagnating productivity and negative effects on the economy, society and the environment. An ongoing industry-wide shortage of qualified workers is among the key reasons for this issue. It has undermined project management and execution, adversely affecting cost, timelines and quality. It also has impeded the adoption of new digital technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), automated equipment and cloud-based collaboration tools, which could improve productivity. The report provides twelve key actions which needs to be implemented to close the structural talent gap of the construction industry.

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Business leaders increasingly optimistic about benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace

Business leaders increasingly optimistic about benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace

by • AI, News, Technology

Executives at major organisations increasingly believe that pairing humans alongside machine intelligence will create a more effective, engaged, and meritocratic workplace, according to a new study released by software provider Pegasystems Inc (registration required). The authors surveyed 845 senior executives working globally across industry sectors including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and media, and government, on the increased role of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace of the future. The potential impact in the workplace seems to outweigh any lingering fears, the report claims. Around 69 percent of of respondents say “workforce” will refer to both humans and machine intelligence in the future. Nearly three-quarters of executives said using machines to augment human abilities would lead to increased efficiency. Over 60 percent said it could be used to improve customer service.

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Technology can be a major distraction for people, making them less productive claims Microsoft report

Technology can be a major distraction for people, making them less productive claims Microsoft report

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

A survey of 20,000 European workers carried out by Microsoft suggests that technology can distract workers rather than make them more productive. The study claims that a constant stream of messages, notifications and emails was particularly distracting. Workers also pointed out that the way employers use technology can also disrupt their work and make it harder for them to concentrate. Other factors identified in the report include lack of training and burn-out associated with always-on working.

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HR teams are not sufficiently prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolution

HR teams are not sufficiently prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolution

by • News, Technology, Workplace

HR teams are not sufficiently prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolutionMost people who work in HR now recognise how essential technology is for delivering more strategic value to their organisation, but a new report suggests that HR teams are not prepared to meet the fourth industrial revolution. A survey from ADP and IDC across eight countries in Europe found that over a fifth (22 percent) of Human Capital Management (HCM) processes are still inputted manually. Equally alarming, was the lack of communication between HR teams and IT departments, with 28 percent of respondents claiming that IT is only somewhat involved in HCM solution decisions, and 3 percent claiming it plays no role at all. Yet despite a significant number of respondents revealing that IT departments are not closely aligned with HR, the research pointed towards a shift in the attitudes of HR experts. When asked which new technologies they find increasingly important, 68 percent said end-to-end integration of all HR and talent systems and 64 percent said HR dashboard and analytics were very or extremely important. What’s more, 56 percent said social or collaborative features were also very important.

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Seven workplace stories that got us thinking this week

Seven workplace stories that got us thinking this week

by • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Is lack of sleep affecting your work?

What if you never saw your colleagues again?

In the name of place-making, architects are often complicit in social cleansing

What CIOs need to know about workplace biometrics

Embarrassment capes and singing drones aim to shame Japan’s workaholics

Together or apart: solidarities, silos and seating plans

Andreas Gursky, master of the contemporary sublime

Image: Andreas Gursky’s May Day V

 

Workers prize standard of technology over latest office design when moving jobs

Workers prize standard of technology over latest office design when moving jobs

by • News, Technology, Workplace

Over half of UK workers (53 percent) say that the standard of technology is a key consideration for accepting a new job role and more than 1 in 3 (37 percent) would decline a job based on poor hardware alone, claims a new survey. The survey of over 2,000 British adults carried out by gadgets and technology e-tailer, LaptopsDirect.co.uk found that having the latest technology was valued more than other office perks, such as flexible working (45 percent), the working environment/decor (39 percent) and staff discounts (33 percent). Nearly a quarter of respondents (74 percent) overall, believe technology makes them more productive at work, with workers in marketing valuing technology the highest, with 84 percent of the votes, followed by those in creative and photographic (81 percent), information and communications (78 percent), professional services (73 percent) and education (71 percent).

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