January 9, 2020

BT to relocate up to 4,000 people to new Birmingham headquarters

BT Group has announced Birmingham’s Three Snowhill development will be its primary new home in the city and provide “a future-fit workplace for thousands of colleagues”. The building, in the city’s business district, will become the regional headquarters for BT with between 3,000 – 4,000 people set to be based there eventually – more than five times the number of people currently based in Birmingham. BT will occupy the majority of floors in the 17-storey development, marking a major investment by the company in the city. More →

January 8, 2020

Third of workers at small businesses are unhappy with their jobs

by Neil Franklin • News

Over a third of UK employees (39 percent) at small-to-medium sized businesses are unhappy with their jobs and 36 percent believe their employer does too little to retain them, according to new research from People First. Exploring the attitudes of 250 bosses and 250 employees across the UK, the research claims to identify a major difference in outlook as more than eight-in-ten (86 percent) SMB bosses believe they have a happy workforce. More →

January 7, 2020

The culling of freelancers with IR35 is a really, really bad idea

by Dean Sadler • Comment, Flexible working

Imagine a world with no freelancers, holiday cover workers, or people to help fill the hiring gaps on projects. With IR35 extending into the private sector, this could be a reality; and we should be worried that a skilled and flexible workforce of freelancers could soon be extinct. Instead of dealing with the headache of the new regulations, 20 percent of UK businesses said they plan to axe contract workers. Freelancers themselves might be worried about how the new iteration of IR35, due to come into force in April next year, will affect their ability to work, and hastily take on permanent positions. More →

January 6, 2020

Executive pay at major firms will today exceed entire 2020 pay for average worker

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

The average FTSE 100 boss will have already earned as much by 5pm today as a typical employee will take home this entire year. According to the analysis from the CIPD and the High Pay Centre, those leading Britain’s biggest companies earn 117 times more than the average worker. The CIPD and High Pay Centre are calling on businesses not to treat the new reporting requirements on executive pay as a ‘tick-box’ exercise and to use it as an opportunity to fully explain CEO pay levels. They also highlight the need for firms to provide a clear rationale for why CEOs are paid what they are and what is being done to address the issue of fair pay in their organisation more broadly. They consider this an important step to help build trust in business amongst employees, wider stakeholders and society. More →

January 6, 2020

Workplace gossip can be good for people – sometimes

by Neil Franklin • News, Working culture

New research from The University of Salford’s Professor Kirk Chang, Professor of Human Resource Management, claims that workplace gossip can sometimes have a positive impact on employees. Published in the January 2020 issue of The Chinese Journal of Psychology, the study involved 307 employees in 24 companies operating in a range of industries in Taiwan. The research suggests that 61 percent of gossip in the workplace is positive, and while the impact is not hugely significant, it could be considered beneficial. Professor Chang concludes that by encouraging a more open attitude towards positive workplace gossip, water cooler chat should not be viewed as wasting time, but as an important mechanism for facilitating interactions and developing relationships. More →

January 3, 2020

Burnout remains a risk for workers of all generations

by Brendan Street • Comment, Wellbeing

Flexible working has become an important part of the modern UK economy, with over half of employees taking up a flexible working arrangement. However, Nuffield Health’s latest whitepaper The effects of remote working on stress, wellbeing and productivity has found while remote working is associated with higher workplace wellbeing, it can also present many business challenges including the risk of burnout for an increasingly diverse workforce. More →

December 30, 2019

Over 65s will drive half of all jobs growth in coming decade

by Neil Franklin • News

New projections from Rest Less, a jobs, volunteering and advice site for the over 50s, claims that workers aged 65 and over are likely to be responsible for at least 50 per cent of all UK employment growth in the next 10 years. The analysis, based on population projections from the Office of National Statistics, makes an assumption that the current employment rate of each age group will remain static, and suggests that with population changes alone, the over 65s are likely to be responsible for 52 per cent of all the UK’s employment growth in the next 10 years, 57 per cent in the next 20 years and as much as 62 per cent by 2060. More →

December 17, 2019

Gig workers like the work-life balance but would prefer permanent roles

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

More than one in ten (12 percent) so-called gig workers in the UK are working multiple roles and consider temporary work as their main role, taking advantage of improved work-life balance, greater variety of work and the ability to see more of their families, according to a new report. The research, carried out by Reed Specialist Recruitment, for its Temporary isn’t Temporary campaign, surveyed 5,000 workers and looked at their experience of, and attitude to, temporary and multiple career roles.

December 16, 2019

Is flexible working the answer to improved employee mental health and productivity?

by Sarah King • Comment, Flexible working

One of Labour’s flagship policies for its 2019 general election campaign was to introduce a four-day week. More accurately, its policy is to introduce a 32-hour week. This brought flexible working again into the media spotlight. Research suggests that flexible working and reduced hours can have multiple benefits, including improved mental health and greater productivity. More →

December 16, 2019

Avoiding the minefield of WhatsApp communications

by Louise Lawrence • Comment, Legal news, Workplace

Whether to keep colleagues updated or to share a new idea, WhatsApp groups are increasingly becoming a go-to communication tool in the workplace. There are benefits to having such informal communication channels – they can be less hierarchical and improve cohesion within the team, as well as being a fast and easy way to communicate and share images. On the flip side, the lack of formality means that there are risks associated with them. More →

December 12, 2019

Are these the best places to work in the UK?

by Neil Franklin • News

Glassdoor has announced the winners of its 12th annual Employees’ Choice Awards – its sixth in the UK – honouring the Best Places to Work in 2020 across the UK and eight other countries. Unlike other workplace awards, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback, by completing a company review about their job, work environment and employer over the past year. Common themes among the Top 50 UK Best Places to Work in 2020 include work-life balance, a great culture, smart people and respect for and from leadership and senior management. More →

December 11, 2019

Over half of firms believe their staff are ready to work with AI

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Workplace

More than half (57 percent) of UK companies are confident their staff are prepared for an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled workspace according to a new report from Genesys. This is broadly in line with the attitudes of workers themselves, according to another report from the company which claims that 46 percent of people say they are ready to work with the technology. The latest survey claims that over half of employers (55 percent) think their employees are anxious that their jobs will be eliminated by AI. However, employers believe this fear is unfounded with only 11 percent saying AI will actually put jobs at risk. In fact, 51 percent of UK based companies don’t anticipate any major staffing changes as a result of AI, despite recent headlines that portraying it as a threat to jobs. More →