Search Results for: employment

June 20, 2013

Land Securities £260m development confirms City office confidence

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Company news, News, Property

Land Securities announcement today of a £260 million development of 1 & 2 New Ludgate, EC4, a speculative mixed-use development in the City of London confirms a growing confidence in the City office market. The 379,000 sq ft scheme occupies an island site near St Paul’s Cathedral and comprises two distinct buildings united by a new public piazza, which together aim to offer 346,000 sq ft of office accommodation set around open and green spaces. Colette O’Shea, Head of Development, London said: “Our decision to commence the speculative development of 1 & 2 New Ludgate reflects our confidence both in the City office market, where we believe supply of new space will be constrained in 2015, and in the quality of the attractive and highly efficient office space we are creating.” More →

June 13, 2013

Gender equality and senior roles where are we now?

by Pam Loch • Legal news, Workplace

Gender equality at senior management and Board level has been and is likely to remain an area of contention. According to recent research by analysts BoardEx into gender inequality in Britain’s top 100 private companies, 73 per cent of companies still have all male teams of executive directors, 51 per cent have only male non-executive directors and there are still 56 per cent of all male Boards. At the end of May a new National Equality Standard was launched by the CBI and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in response to the continued concerns about the issue, which some EU members have argued requires the imposition of mandatory board quotas.

June 12, 2013

Real demographic challenge as number of older workers tops one million

by Sara Bean • Comment, Legal news, News, Workplace

The latest employment figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show an interesting demographic trend. Beneath the rather unexceptional news that employment rose by 24,000 and unemployment fell by 5,000 in the three months to April, is what Jim Hillage, Director of Research at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) describes as “underlying structural changes in the labour market”. The number of employed people over 65 in the UK has now reached more than a million (1,003,000), the highest since records began in 1971. This means that almost one in ten of over-65s are now in work.

June 11, 2013

Construction sector is digging its way out of recession

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The UK’s Employment Outlook is looking firmly positive, according to ManpowerGroup, and it’s being driven by an upturn in construction and a buoyant London economy. “As we head into the summer months, the UK jobs market is not too hot, but not too cold either. It’s all about the Three ‘C’s: Construction, the Capital, and Consistency,” said ManpowerGroup UK Managing Director, Mark Cahill. The first ‘C’ is for Construction, the most improved sector this quarter, up by five points, which is positive news as construction has been a huge drag on the whole UK economy, and is one of the main reasons we’ve had a double dip recession. Now ManpowerGroup reports it is starting to see rising demand for skills across the board, particularly in skilled trades and engineers. More →

June 10, 2013

British Land on track to meet targets on green building efficiency

by Sara Bean • Company news, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

British Land says it is on track to meet many of its 2015 targets on managing buildings efficiently, developing sustainable buildings and reducing carbon emissions. In its Corporate Responsibility Report for 2013, the real estate investment trust, which owns and manages a portfolio of commercial property worth £16.4 billion reiterates its commitment to sustainable property management: “There are increasing indications to support our view that sustainability, and particularly energy efficiency, grow income and grow value in the longer term. We are convinced this will be proven over time. Green buildings are also less at risk of obsolescence, thus further protecting and growing capital value over the medium to long term.” More →

June 7, 2013

Roger Sterling of Mad Men’s guide to letting someone go

by Sara Bean • Comment, Legal news, Workplace

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One of the least appealing duties of any employer is breaking bad news to an employee, and the worst of this is, of course, the ‘we’ve had to let you go.’ In an attempt to avoid a costly employment tribunal claim, many organisations fall back on frankly horrible phrases like ‘downsizing’ and ‘rationalisation’. On one memorable occasion I heard a group of shell-shocked staff being assured that the company was planning to give them a ‘soft landing’ by bringing in careers counsellors to help them make the most of ‘fresh opportunities’. Personally, in these situations I think a little more honesty is preferable – but perhaps not with such blatant glee as Roger Sterling of Mad Men when he explains to Burt Peterson just how much pleasure he’s getting from firing him….again. Burt’s response contains some strong language.

May 23, 2013

Guidance on designing in accessibility for disabled workers

by Pam Loch • Comment, Facilities management, Knowledge, Legal news, Workplace design

The government launches a campaign today using TV celebrities and disabled groups to help promote positive role models for disabled people. It’s aimed at building on the latest stats that show 81 per cent of people thought the Paralympics had a positive impact on the way disabled people are perceived. Currently they’re not well represented in the workplace, as according to DTI figures half of all disabled people are unable to find work. This is why the Equality Act 2010 plays such a vital role in promoting diversity in the workplace. Put into practice, understanding and adhering to the Equality Act 2010 requires employers to take positive action to remove certain disadvantages to disabled people posed by working practices and the physical features of premises. More →

May 23, 2013

UK employee engagement and productivity lags behind most of world

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

You might regard the concept of employee engagement as just a new way to describe industrial relations, but there is a growing body of research that UK employers need to do more to keep their employees on side. According to the latest missive, low employee engagement and lagging productivity is the greatest employment challenge facing UK business in 2013. Global research by Right Management found that this was the key concern for one in three (31 per cent ) employers compared to a global average of just one in five (21 per cent ) HR professionals, suggesting that after years of economic uncertainty and doing ‘more with less’, the UK workforce has reached a productivity impasse. More →

May 22, 2013

Fearful UK employees benefit from engagement policies finds survey

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Public Sector, Workplace

A new study provides some proof that the employee engagement lobby has some validity. According to a new national survey, job stress has gone up and job-related well-being has gone down since the start of the recession, with Britain’s employees feeling more insecure and pressured at work than at any time in the past 20 years. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) report the biggest concern was about pay reductions, followed by loss of say over their job. However, the survey found that where employers pursued employee engagement practices, giving employees more involvement in decision making at work, staff were less anxious about their jobs. More →

May 15, 2013

Long term investment in infrastructure needed to boost UK economy

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property

The UK government should reverse the long term slump in infrastructure investment to boost the economy, according to a new report from the Centre for Economic and Business Research and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association. The report, Securing Our Economy: The Case For Infrastructure, calls for the government to address the decade long £13bn infrastructure construction shortfall and lays out a series of recommendations to reverse the situation. The report claims the UK endures a £78bn GDP ‘black hole’ each year due to the lack of investment and that by investing at the level of other developed economies, the economy could enjoy an additional £100 billion each year by 2026.

May 14, 2013

Majority of workers prefer sick colleagues to stay home

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

As we reported last week, the UK workforce is suffering from a bad case of presenteeism, but unfortunately for those valiant employees who drag themselves into the office despite being genuinely sick, it seems the majority of their workmates would prefer they didn’t bother. According to the latest research on the issue, this time from Capita Employee Benefits, over three in four (78 per cent) recognise that colleagues who are genuinely sick should stay at home until they get better for the benefit of both themselves and those around them.

May 10, 2013

Recruitment rates rise, but employers should be careful who they hire

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

There is mixed news on the recruitment front, with the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG report on jobs hinting a positive turn, with permanent placements accelerating, the rate of demand for permanent staff remaining solid and average starting salaries continuing to rise. However, according to a new global report, employers are urged to be cautious about who they hire, because more than half of employers in each of the ten largest world economies say that a bad hire has negatively impacted their business, pointing to a significant loss in revenue or productivity or challenges with employee morale and client relations.