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 →

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 →

2021 Digital Etiquette study highlights the rise of the invisible workforce

2021 Digital Etiquette study highlights the rise of the invisible workforce

Digital EtiquetteThe 2021 Digital Etiquette Study by Adaptavist, highlights that 43 percent of workers in the UK want to come back to the workplace/office full-time, while the exact same figure (43 percent) favour a flexible/hybrid model and 14 percent want to be remote only. However, as hybrid work increasingly becomes the long-term future for knowledge workers, Adaptavist suggests a growing despair among employees with the tools and technologies they are using to navigate working remotely with many left feeling invisible. More →

Majority of people are overwhelmed by data at work

Majority of people are overwhelmed by data at work

overwhelmedPeople in the UK feel overwhelmed by the amount of data available to them when making critical decisions at work, according to a new study by Oracle NetSuite. The study, which includes insights from 2,000 people across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Nordics and the Middle East, claims that while people believe they have the data to be successful, they are overwhelmed by data quantity and plan to turn to a robot or machine to assist in the decision-making process during the next 12 months. More →

Air quality concerns hindering return to five-day office week

Air quality concerns hindering return to five-day office week

officeBusinesses whose personnel are resistant to resuming full-time office working should address the issue of workplace air quality. A survey of UK office workers claims that 80 percent would feel more positive about a return to a five-day office week if action was taken to measure and improve the quality of air in their workplace. More →

Wearing face masks could be affecting the way we interact with others

Wearing face masks could be affecting the way we interact with others

face masksHiding the bottom half of the face with a mask could have a detrimental effect on our ability to socially interact and share other people’s emotions, new research suggests. A Cardiff University-led study claims people with facial paralysis, people seeing others who wear face masks, or even children sucking on dummies, could struggle to show empathy or detect positive social cues. More →

Millions of workers feel rushed back to the office before being ready

Millions of workers feel rushed back to the office before being ready

With more than 13.5 million workers having returned to their place of work for at least one day a week, more than four million say that they do not feel entirely safe doing so, claims new research by Direct Line Life Insurance. Some 5.5 million workers would work from home permanently if given the option and 3.6 million feel as though they are being rushed back in by their employer. More →

Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’

Business leaders wary that greater workplace flexibility could encourage ‘proximity bias’

flexibilityWith the vast majority (86 percent) of UK businesses planning to offer employees greater flexibility around where they work, leaders are focused on ensuring employees feel included regardless of their location, according to new research from LinkedIn. This comes as LinkedIn has seen a 97 percent increase in remote jobs being advertised on the platform in the UK from September 2020 to September 2021. More →

Recruitment drive sees majority of firms embed flexible working policies

Recruitment drive sees majority of firms embed flexible working policies

policiesNew research by Totum Partners, claims that the majority of firms now have hybrid working policies in place, as worker preferences and economy-wide recruitment pressures drive increased demand for flexible working. This includes 50 percent of firms which have implemented a company-wide policy, while the remaining 50 percent have published guidelines that can be interpreted by location or individual team. More →

Employers struggling to adapt employee experience to meet workforce needs

Employers struggling to adapt employee experience to meet workforce needs

employersDespite their best intentions, most employers are facing difficulties responding to changing employee expectations around employee experience and wellbeing during the pandemic. 69 percent of HR leaders admit that their efforts to improve employee experience are being held back by a lack of a clear strategy, and 76 percent report that they are struggling to adapt their employee experience to meet the needs of a hybrid workforce. More →