June 9, 2021
UK job quality continues to fall short
Job quality in the UK has been surprisingly unaffected by the Covid pandemic so far but continues to fall short on a number of key measures, according to the CIPD’s annual Good Work Index. (more…)
June 8, 2021
More than a third of workers in the UK are languishing
According to research from Randstad UK, more than a third of workers told the recruiter that the pandemic had left them feeling ‘aimless’ while more than a quarter of employees said the pandemic had left them unable to concentrate properly. A third described how the pandemic had sapped their motivation. (more…)
June 7, 2021
The bullshit jobs theory may turn out to be, well…
The so-called ‘bullshit jobs theory’ – which argues that a large and rapidly increasing number of workers are undertaking jobs that they themselves recognise as being useless and of no social value – contains several major flaws, argue researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Birmingham. Even so, writing in Work, Employment and Society, the academics applaud its proponent, American anthropologist David Graeber, who died in September 2020, for highlighting the link between a sense of purpose in one’s job and psychological wellbeing.
May 27, 2021
Workers report worse mental health following pandemic
St John Ambulance is to launch a new workplace mental health qualification as eight out of 10 (81 percent) workers say their mental health is worse or more variable as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. (more…)
May 26, 2021
New research looks inside the UK ageism epidemic
New research conducted by McCarthy Stone, claims to expose the true scale of Ageist Britain, reporting that over a quarter (27 percent) of over 65s in the UK – equivalent to more than three million people – have been victims of ageism. 60 percent of UK adults believe it’s a problem that needs fixing. (more…)
May 20, 2021
The pandemic will transform the way we commute
Organisations and businesses have a lot to contend with as they begin to reopen their offices. From social distancing, working from home policies, office layouts, hand gel stations and more. But there also remains one key issue when it comes to welcoming employees back to the office. And that’s how they will get to work in the first place. That’s because the daily commute is going to look a lot different than it did pre-COVID. Firstly, while many employers and workers see the benefit of meeting in person, the hybrid world we now live in will see workers commuting to the office far less frequently. And, if they do travel to the office, there is an element of hesitancy about how they will get there; a recent study revealed 60 percent that ‘post pandemic’ commuting say hybrid working has reduced stress from not having to commute daily. (more…)
May 19, 2021
Single parents in danger of being locked out of work and forced into poverty
A report published by single parent charity, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Employment Studies highlights how the world of work simply doesn’t work for single parents and warns things are set to get worse before they get better – putting even more single parent families at risk of poverty and creating a two-tier society, with single parents firmly at the bottom. (more…)
May 17, 2021
Long working hours increase deaths from heart disease and stroke, says WHO
Long working hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29 per cent increase since 2000, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization published in Environment International today. In what the authors claim is the first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours, WHO and ILO estimate that, in 2016, 398 000 people died from stroke and 347,000 from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to long hours increased by 42 percent, and from stroke by 19 percent. (more…)
May 14, 2021
We need to acknowledge our bias if we want to see the world for what it is
We’re all biased. We all recognise the sharp bump of our critical thinking skills kicking into life when confronted with ideas and information that go against our beliefs. We know how they doze in the comforting embrace of affirming data. So, it’s been entertaining this week to observe the reaction to the large-scale academic study of 10,000 IT workers which found that they had worked 30 percent longer hours while working from home, a fifth of it outside their normal times of work, without actually doing any more work. In essence their productivity had fallen by 20 percent in spite of their increased hours. (more…)
May 14, 2021
One in five employees now more comfortable taking a sick day
New research from Love Energy Savings claims that one in five people are now more comfortable taking a sick day compared to pre-pandemic. This is in stark contrast to their findings pre-pandemic, when they found that 80 percent of UK employees went to work when sick, with one in 10 people attributing this to employee pressure and one in five to not wanting to let their teammates down. (more…)
May 10, 2021
Living life to the full, as we step out of lockdown
New research from comparethemarket.com claims that more than a third (36 percent) of Britons started planning their bucket list during lockdown. More than half (57 percent) claim their motivation for planning the list was due to their attitude that ‘life is too short’, whilst 29 percent say they want to do something for themselves. (more…)
May 27, 2021
For a workplace culture to flourish, sometimes you have to let go
by Cathy Hayward • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design