March 25, 2020

The good, the bad and the ugly of workplace wellbeing

FTSE companies that prioritise wellbeing and engagement outperform others by 10 percent according to a study from SOMA Analytics. Similar results are apparent across a range of related studies. With such a significant impact, it’s surprising that businesses are still not measuring the impact of wellbeing activities to optimise their offering. More →

March 20, 2020

How important is it to be happy at work?

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

How supportive are you of your employees’ wellbeing? New research from CV-Library claims that two-thirds of Brits (61.7 percent) say being happy at work is the most important part of a job, but 87.9 percent feel their employer could do more to improve morale in the workplace.

What’s more, the study, which surveyed 2,300 UK professionals, suggests that Brits think being happy is more important than salary (22.1 percent) and location (15.5 percent) when it comes to work. Interestingly, being happy in their job was also more important for women (66.4 percent) than men (58.7 percent), as well as for 55-64-year olds (66.9 percent) and 45-54-year olds (64.8 percent). More →

March 18, 2020

One million young workers set to leave London before turning 33

by Jayne Smith • News, Property

The number of young workers leaving London is on the rise, with net migration away from the capital growing, claims new research from Totaljobs and Professor of Economics at Lancaster University, Geraint Johnes. The new research, taken from analysis of ONS data as well as the views of 2,000 Londoners, suggests that since 2014, more than one million professionals have left London, with just 900,000 coming in. This is a net loss of 88 workers every day, with the biggest shortfall down to workers aged 25-34, the majority (54 percent) of them having given up hope of ever owning property in the capital. There has been a 49 percent increase in outbound migration of those in their 30s over the last five years. More →

March 17, 2020

Pandemic highlights precarious reality of workplace legislation

by Tony Wilson • Comment, Legal news

Less than a week on from the Budget, and already the government’s emergency measures to respond to covid-19 feel like they belong to another crisis. While attention this weekend has rightly focused on how our health services and older people can be supported, we also need urgently to revisit the impact on the workplace and especially how we’ll support the many millions of workers who will find themselves off work – sick or in self-isolation – over the coming months. More →

March 16, 2020

Employee confidence plunges amid economic and workplace uncertainty

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture

Employee confidence in U.K. business conditions has fallen to its lowest level on record on the back of Brexit and rising fears around the coronavirus, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner’s latest Global Talent Monitor report claims that the U.K. business confidence fell to an index score of 44.5 in 4Q19, a decrease of over 11 index points from 4Q18. The figure puts the U.K. more than 6 index points below the current global average. More →

March 16, 2020

Higher female state pension age causes an increase in older women at work

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

The number of women aged between 60 and 64 in work has increased by 51 percent since the 1995 Pensions Act came into effect which increased the female state pension age from 60 to 65 since 2010, claims research from Rest Less, a jobs, volunteering and guidance site for the over 50s.

Between October and December 2009, there were 644,674 women aged between 60 and 64 in work. In the same period in 2019, there were 976,376 women aged between 60 and 64 in work – an increase of 331,702 or 51 per cent. This contrasts with an increase of only 127,882 (or 13 percent) in the number of men working aged between 60 and 64 over the same period. More →

March 13, 2020

The UK is not well enough prepared for working from home

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Figures released today suggest that the UK is one of the least prepared countries to introduce a mass home-working strategy. Leesman has surveyed more than 700,000 employees worldwide. Of the 139,778 UK workers in its index, 55 percent have little or no experience working from home, compared with 52 percent of respondents globally. More →

March 12, 2020

Company reputations can live or die by the behaviour of employees on social media

by Pete Eyre • Comment, Technology

A recent survey from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills suggests that 95 percent of large organisations polled expected a rise in the number of employees using social media, such as Twitter, to raise complaints and concerns about their company over the next five years. It is an extremely worrying development for business. While social media can in general be a great platform for everyone to have their voice heard, in this context, it takes an internal issue to a public space and it could do a great deal of harm to the business concerned. An aggrieved employee tweeting criticisms of their company has the potential to go viral, garnering vast numbers of likes and reaping untold damage to the reputation and brand of the organisation concerned. More →

March 11, 2020

Office politics major source of work related stress

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

Perkbox commissioned a new study of 1,815 employed people to present a examination into the changing landscape of work-related stress in 2020. The study compared results to 2018 data in order to identify how sources of work-related stress and the solutions offered by employers are changing. The study claims that 79 percent of adults in employment commonly experience work-related stress. More →

March 10, 2020

Majority of Brits struggle to make ends meet

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

According to the latest survey from CV-Library, the majority of Brits admit that they struggle to make ends meet, but over half are still too scared to ask their employer for a pay rise. The study, which surveyed 2,000 British professionals, claims that 18-24 year-olds are the most likely to struggle financially; with 67.7 percent of respondents in this age group finding it hard to make ends meet. This is closely followed by 66.7 percent of 35-44 year-olds and 60.9 percent of 25-35 year-olds.

What’s more, the survey also suggests that 61.3 percent of Brits feel confident about securing a higher paid role elsewhere. Men were most confident about this (64.4 percent of men vs 57 percent of women), as were 25-34 year olds (65.5 percent) and 18-24 year olds (63.8 percent).

March 10, 2020

Expectations at work are changing

by Jayne Smith • Environment, Flexible working, News, Working lives

New research from Aon, claims that 94 percent of employers believe their employees’ expectations of work experience are changing. In Aon’s Benefits and Trends Survey 2020, employers say their employees expect flexible working hours, the ability to work from home, better awareness and handling of mental health, better approaches to diversity and inclusion and better parental policies. A surprise in this year’s report is the strength of opinion on environmental and sustainability policies, coming in at the seventh most important expectation in its first year in the survey. Fifty-four percent of employers believe that employees want clarity and positivity on this subject.

March 5, 2020

UK outpaced by other nations when it comes to women in work

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives

Despite holding firm in 16th place, the UK is being outpaced by greater improvements in female employment prospects in other OECD countries, according to PWC’s latest Women in Work Index, which analyses female economic empowerment across 33 OECD countries. While the UK performs above the OECD average and is second only to Canada when compared to other G7 economies, its position has barely budged since 2000 when it stood in 17th position, despite improving its performance across all five indicators. More →