Columnists
August 19, 2019
Firms need to place more value on older workers
by Claire Turner • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives, Workplace
As we live longer lives, it’s inevitable that more of us want to work for longer. It makes good business sense too: with fewer younger people starting work to replace those set to retire in future years, coupled with uncertainty over Brexit and labour shortages, employers can’t afford to lose older workers.
August 16, 2019
Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences
by Julian Sharpe • Comment, Workplace design
In recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force.
August 16, 2019
Is London Smart City Initiative as smart as it could be?
by George Adams • Cities, Comment, Technology
It’s been a year since the launch of the Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap, designed to transform the capital into the smartest city in the world. But twelve months later, is the city any smarter? The Mayor of London’s smart city roadmap is proposing to transform the capital into the smartest city in the […]
August 15, 2019
Reasons to be agile, part three
by Sarah Booth • Comment, Workplace design
The Agile Manifesto, published in 2001, signalled a shift in approach to workplace design as well as technology. Though the document was conceived as a guide to speeding up software development, its contents have gone on to inform how organisations think and operate in ways that extend far beyond IT. “Build projects around motivated individuals. […]
August 14, 2019
The endless hunt for the office of the future 0
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
Lewis Carroll’s second best known work The Hunting of the Snark is a long nonsense poem that describes the pursuit by a group of adventurers of an elusive creature called a Snark. This turns out to be a much more dangerous Boojum when it is finally seen, causing one of the crew members to vanish. […]
August 7, 2019
Some uncomfortable truths about sitting down at work 0
August 6, 2019
Gig economy worker rights demand a global approach
by Hina Belitz • Comment, Legal news, Working culture
British people increasingly work in temporary positions and on short term engagements: part of a fundamental global shift in the way we work. The domestic gig economy has seen the number of workers more than double in number since 2016, according to a recent report from the TUC and the University of Hertfordshire (conducted with […]
August 2, 2019
If you want to do your brain some good, take it outside
July 29, 2019
The tipping point for flexible working arrives
by James Geekie • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design
July 26, 2019
Self-employment might be good for mental health
by Mark Stabile • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing
The general picture of self-employment, the gig economy work and mental wellbeing is not a pretty one. Around the world, Uber drivers face wage and security worries. Deliveroo workers have too much competition. Airbnb owners face legal problems in Paris and other cities. But while these headlines suggest a dark cloud over the heads of […]
August 21, 2019
The office is increasingly able to recognise you, but will you recognise it?
by John Comacchio • Comment, Technology, Workplace design
Our lives at work are about to change—again. Just as the addition of PC’s and Wi-Fi re-drew the office blueprint, emerging technologies like robots, virtual agents, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) promise to radically revise the form and the function of work and the workplace. In the near future, your office […]