Search Results for: financial services

A mixed forecast for the accountancy profession: Brexit highs and digital lows

A mixed forecast for the accountancy profession: Brexit highs and digital lows 0

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

The accountancy profession is facing an uncertain future in the traditional sense. The question of automation is on everyone’s minds, as are the complexities of Brexit. On the one hand, news from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) suggests accountants will be in high demand during the Brexit process, on the other, gloomy reports of job automation suggest accountants will be one of the professions hardest hit in Britain’s long-term future. The implications of Brexit are yet to be uncovered. Clearly, Brexit will be a complex process and businesses will undoubtedly require the strategic insight and rigour of the accountancy profession. We have accepted that exiting the EU will likely be a complicated drawn-out process. The effects on business will be bound up in complex trade deals, government policies and the ratification of EU laws affecting business in the UK.

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UK productivity is up but the underlying puzzle remains unsolved

UK productivity is up but the underlying puzzle remains unsolved 0

by • News, Workplace

productivity puzzleThe latest productivity data from the Office for National Statistics shows that UK productivity is up, although the accompanying briefing admits that the data ‘provides little sign of an end to the UK’s productivity puzzle’. According to the report, output per hour increased in the final quarter of 2016 at its fastest rate for more than a year. Quarterly growth of 0.4 percent lifted output per hour 1.2 percent higher than a year ago. While the productivity puzzle is a feature of most developed economies, it is particularly intransigent in the UK, which has a significant gap compared to other nations such as Germany, the US and France. This is despite the fact that Britons spend more time working than those in any comparable nation, except the US.

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Bumpy ride and slow uptake in first two years of shared parental leave rules

Bumpy ride and slow uptake in first two years of shared parental leave rules 0

by • Features, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

Concerns over career prospects impact take up of shared parental leaveIt is two years since the introduction of Shared Parental Leave (SPL), where couples were given the ability to share leave surrounding the arrival of a new addition to their family; and while sharing leave is seen to have a profound beneficial impact for the family, there are still plenty of barriers. According to research from My Family Care, one of the largest is that  there is a sense that it involves a big risk with real concerns around the impact on a father’s career if they were to take more than two or three months off. A second report from the charity Working Families found that despite the initial slow take up of new rights, more than half of fathers would use Shared Parental Leave. However, snapshot figures for the first three months of 2016 showed that 3,000 new parents were taking up the new right. If the maternity leave figure is taken as indicative of the number of couples with new babies at the time the new figures are in line with the bottom of the government’s 2013 estimated take-up range – between two and eight per cent of fathers.

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Europe’s happiest workers revealed in new report

Europe’s happiest workers revealed in new report 0

by • News, Wellbeing

Levels of job satisfaction vary significantly across Europe, with Dutch, Polish and Swiss employees being the most satisfied, according to research by HR software firm ADP. The new study of nearly 10,000 European working adults explores how employees across Europe feel about the future of work. According to the research, Dutch, Polish and Swiss employees are the most satisfied, whilst the UK comes joint fifth. In the UK, satisfaction levels also differ greatly across regions; three quarters of those based in the East are satisfied (75 percent), whilst only 59 percent of employees in Northern Ireland are satisfied. In the UK, those working in Architecture, Engineering and Building are the most satisfied (84 percent), whilst IT & Telecoms workers fare well across Europe and the UK. In the UK, those working in financial services are the least satisfied (57 percent) – the lowest level of job satisfaction overall. In contrast, 71 percent of financial services employees in other European countries are satisfied.

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Cautious London job market post-Brexit, as EU nationals consider options

Cautious London job market post-Brexit, as EU nationals consider options 0

by • Cities, News, Workplace

The more recent employment figures for London suggest that until the terms of Brexit are known and put in motion, the jobs market will remain cautious. This is according to the latest Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor which found that despite an 81 percent increase in jobs available and an 83 percent increase in professionals seeking jobs; compared to a 115 percent increase in jobs this time last year, the 2017 spike was muted in comparison. The 83 percent increase in job seekers month-on-month is coupled with a 29 percent decrease, year-on-year. Contributing to the decrease is the trickling off of non-British EU nationals working in the City, who comprise up to 10 percent of its workforce. In a post-Brexit survey of professionals conducted by Morgan McKinley, these individuals reported either moving abroad, or considering leaving London because of Brexit.

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The facts about sit stand work are already lost in the stream of narrative

The facts about sit stand work are already lost in the stream of narrative 0

by • Comment, Knowledge, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Toss a sliver of information into the great stream of accepted public narrative and see what happens to it. There it goes, briefly visible on the surface then consumed; part of the stream but no longer to be seen. A perfect example of this is provided by a recent piece of research carried out by the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health into the effects of standing at work on a small sample of call centre workers. While the results of the study are impressive, notably a 46 percent increase in productivity, by the time the story was reported on Inc.com, the 167 call centre workers had suddenly morphed into ‘everybody’. It should go without saying that the headline ‘Your Productivity Will Increase by 46 percent if You Stand at Your Desk’ does not reflect the conclusions of the original research. The statements by the researchers suggesting that the study is significant with regard to call centre staff but merely indicative of a wider issue go ignored.

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Major corporate real estate occupiers struggle to balance cost cutting with strategic goals

Major corporate real estate occupiers struggle to balance cost cutting with strategic goals 0

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

Although the world’s major corporate real estate occupiers retain a focus on managing the costs of their workplace when it comes to making the big decisions, there is a growing emphasis on offsetting this against issues such as staff recruitment and retention. That is the key finding of a new report from Cushman & Wakefield into the priorities and decision making of large corporate occupiers. It claims that firms are now far more focused on striking the right balance between goals that are often in direct opposition to one another. The study, produced in partnership with CoreNet Global, was based on interviews with 266 occupiers, three quarters of whom have more than 25 offices worldwide. The survey examined not only how location and workplace strategy are viewed as corporate value drivers, but also CRE’s alignment with business strategy.

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Book review…. HQ:Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands

Book review…. HQ:Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands 0

by • Case studies, Comment, Workplace design

primark-cropSome people would have you believe that the office is dying out. But the absolute dead giveaway that it is not is the creation of tech enclaves and palaces around the world that exists solely to bring lots of people to work together in real space and real time. Some of these buildings are presented in a new book called HQ: Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands from Irish publishers Roads (link is to Amazon but please try to order from a local bookshop if possible). The high tech homes of the likes of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Vodafone are presented alongside similar examples from eight other business sectors: Finance, Retail, Motoring, Media, Drinks, Fashion, Sport and Design & Innovation.

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Business as usual for recruitment and retention in post-Brexit Britain … for now

Business as usual for recruitment and retention in post-Brexit Britain … for now 0

by • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

BrexitOn 24 June 2016 Britain voted for Brexit. The shock (and narrow) victory caused country-wide concern among the 48 percent of the voting public that favoured remain – apprehension seemingly justified by the immediate weakening of the pound, Cameron’s resignation and the start of ongoing political in-fighting. Speculation over job losses and potential hiring freezes added to a general sense of uncertainty, leaving some UK workers fearing their job security. Since then however, recruitment experts have somewhat softened their predictions for the UK job market as recent reports of month-on-month vacancy growth and record high employment rates have served to inspire confidence.  Five months on, how has job applicant sentiment changed in the UK since the EU referendum vote? And what does this mean for businesses hiring in post-Brexit vote Britain? As part of our ongoing tracking of candidate confidence levels in the job market and their career prospects we analysed the responses of almost 28,000 job applicants across the UK and Republic of Ireland – from all ages, experiences and sector disciplines – to gauge how perspectives might have changed pre- and post-Brexit.

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Gartner report identifies the Top 10 strategic technology trends for 2017

Gartner report identifies the Top 10 strategic technology trends for 2017 0

by • News, Technology

artificial-intelligence-brain-aiA new report from tech analysts Gartner highlights the top technology trends the firm believes will be ‘strategic for most organisations in 2017’. Gartner defines a strategic technology trend as one with substantial disruptive potential that is just beginning to break out of an emerging state into broader impact and use or which are rapidly growing trends with a high degree of volatility reaching tipping points over the next five years. They include artificial intelligence, blockchain, intelligent devices, digital technology platforms and advanced machine learning.

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Stress and overwork in the City of London remains endemic, finds research

Stress and overwork in the City of London remains endemic, finds research 0

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

img-1500x1032-financial-districtThe financial services industry has never been known as a ‘touchy-feeling’ environment, and despite efforts to raise the issue of mental ill health at work, appears resolutely resistant to cultural change. This perception is reinforced by a new piece of research which claims that rising stress in the City is driving more than two out of three investment bank staff to consider quitting their job – but employees believe talking about stress or mental health issues to management will damage their careers. In a study by MetLife among decision makers at financial institutions two out of five (40 percent) think their job is extremely stressful with 67 percent considering quitting their jobs in the next year if stress levels do not improve. However, despite the impact of stress on their work and home lives, around 70 percent believe that admitting to suffering from anxiety or mental health issues will damage their career prospects and there is a reluctance to offer staff more flexible hours to help reduce the strain.

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Flexible hours key to achieving gender balance in finance sector 0

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Improvements in flexible working are among the key steps being taken to help achieve gender balance within the financial services sector, according to the UK Treasury. Financial services is the country’s highest paid sector but has the widest gender pay gap, at 39.5 percent, compared with 19.2 percent across the economy. The ‘Women in Finance Charter’, was set up by the Treasury earlier this year to publish progress on gender balance annually and reports that of the 72 firms who signed the charter, 60 have now committed to having at least 30 percent of women in senior roles by 2021. Alongside gender diversity targets, these firms have set out strategies for how they’ll hit these targets, including improving flexible working, making recruitment gender neutral and distributing high profile work more fairly.

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