September 17, 2013
Record number of managers in the UK, but who or what are they all managing?
The number of managers in the UK has reached record levels according to a new report. But who or what they are all managing is slightly less clear as structural changes in the UK economy mean there are fewer people in full time and skilled work, especially in the public sector, as well as a growing number of the self-employed. An analysis of ONS statistics by the Jobs Economist reveals the number of people defined as managers in the UK is now 3.1 million, up 7.8% in just two years and now more than 10% of the entire workforce. By contrast the number of skilled trades people has fallen by 2.2%, the number of people working full time has fallen to 21.4 million, public sector employment has fallen by 437,000 in three years while the number of self-employed has grown by 367,000 since the 2008 downturn.
September 4, 2013
Facilities managers should harness information to show the value of what they do
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management
Of the various myths that plague the facilities management profession, the most pernicious may well be that the role of facilities managers is largely to carry out what the early feminists called shit-work – the kind of job that only becomes visible when it is done badly or isn’t done at all. Conversely, when it is done well, nobody seems to notice or even care that much. The proto-feminists of the 50s and 60s applied the term to housework, but the term is equally apposite for the work of many facilities managers who may only come to the attention of their organisation when the air-conditioning stops working, the toilet floods or there is a problem with the car park.
More →