Search Results for: jobs

May 5, 2015

UK digital infrastructure struggling to keep pace with demand

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

The UK is struggling to create the digital infrastructure it needs to keep up with burgeoning employment and investment levels in new technology. A new study from IT recruitment firm Experis claims there has been an 18 per cent increase in the number of permanent job roles in the IT sector advertised across the UK in the first quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, a report from Santander’s commercial business division claims that the UK’s SMEs are planning to invest £53bn in digital business over the next two years. All of this should be good news except for the fact that digital experts are warning that the UK is about to hit the digital buffers over the next two decades, according to experts who will present their findings to the Royal Society next week.

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April 27, 2015

How remote working employees go rogue in search of productivity ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Although many European employees now spend long hours each week working remotely, many of them don’t think their employers provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs properly and so go ‘rogue’ to find the best ways of communicating with each other and using information. That is the key finding of a new study from internal communications specialist Newsweaver which explores the ways remote working employees use mobile devices. It found that while one in five workers across the EU now spend at least ten hours a week working remotely, 41 per cent do not believe that the tools their company provides meet their needs. They therefore choose to use their own apps instead. This fact is well understood by IT teams with three out of four technology managers admitting they are offering staff outdated tools.

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April 24, 2015

Are these this year’s ten most sustainable buildings in North America? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected what they claim are the nation’s top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects. The COTE Top Ten Awards program, now in its 19th year, claims to be the profession’s most rigorous recognition program for sustainable buildings. The program highlights projects that are the result of an “integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology … which make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.”

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April 14, 2015

The workplace as a strategic resource: a real life CEO’s perspective

by Jim Ware • Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

Raise your hand if you agree: “The workplace is obviously a strategic resource.” We facilities management professionals know that to be true. But if you often feel like a voice in the wilderness when speaking to anyone other than a fellow workplace professional, you are not alone. For many if not most senior executives, their facilities are a necessary evil that always cost too much. That reality frustrates me as much as it does you. So my colleague Paul Carder and I conducted two extensive research projects in 2012 and 2013 aimed at making the case (mostly to FM professionals themselves) that facilities and workplaces are incredibly strategic – and very poorly understood. And while we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the work, we haven’t seen much change in mindsets, management practices or outcomes.

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April 13, 2015

Approval granted for new 27-storey office building at Canary Wharf ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

Planning permission has been granted for a new 27-storey office building at 1 Bank Street, Canary Wharf in London. The new 700,000 sq ft office building will comprise office space, three levels of trading floors, a retail unit at ground level, a free-standing retail kiosk on South Dock Promenade, public realm, planting and landscaping and basement car and cycle parking. There will also be public access to a new promenade along the South Dock. According to developers Canary Wharf Group, the new offices will provide capacity for an additional 5,837 full-time equivalent jobs. French bank Société Générale, has already agreed a lease for 280,000 sq ft of 1 Bank Street, covering the ground and first to seventh floors on a 25 year lease. Tower Hamlets also granted Canary Wharf Group outline planning permission for just over 1 million sq ft of space at 1 Park Place.

April 8, 2015

Managing the Millennials should be no different to the other generations

by Emma Parry • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

There is much debate about the way the group known as Millennials should be treated. Millennials, those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, are viewed as different to my peers, Generation X (those born in the 60s and 70s), and certainly vastly different in outlook to the post-war Baby Boomers and the pre-war Veterans. A stereotypical view is that these newbies are highly ambitious and want everything ‘now’, for example, regular pay rises and instant promotion without putting in the work. Yet I believe that Millennials should not be viewed as a distinct group and what we are in fact seeing are long-term changes as a result of trends in society and the workplace. So while employers may recognise the particular needs of Millennials it is these long-term changes they should really be addressing.

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April 2, 2015

UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of upturn

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Workplace

UK labour productivity continues to flatline in spite of the recent economic upturn, according to a new report from the Office for National Statistics. Overall productivity as measured by output per hour fell by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter. In 2014 as a whole, labour productivity was little changed from 2013, and slightly lower than in 2007, prior to the economic downturn. As ever, the devil is in the detail. There were notable increases in productivity in both manufacturing and construction but the modest gains in service industries obscure the fact that there is a great deal of variation across sectors and also the fact that any gains reflect a greater number of hours worked rather than an increase in the overall number of people employed or their underlying productivity.

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April 2, 2015

Flexible working and recognition linked to happiness at work

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Workplace

The eternal quest for happiness is the subject of two new reports which conclude that if you want to feel more satisfied with your working life, it’s important to feel as if you are in control of it. New research from Professor Andy Charlwood at Loughborough University claims that government and employer policies that give people greater flexibility to choose the hours they work helps to foster their wellbeing and that overworked people are less satisfied with their lives and experience lower levels of psychological wellbeing overall. A second, less scientific study commissioned by US software provider InLoox claims that one of the most important determinants of happiness at work is an ability to work unsupervised or not to report to anybody at all so, if you must have a job, make sure you’re in charge.

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April 1, 2015

New safety regulations to affect even routine building maintenance tasks

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Legal news, Property

Any organisation which intends to contract for construction work could risk fines or imprisonment if they do not comply with new legal safety regulations covering site management. Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com is warning that The Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations, which come into force on 6 April, will affect all construction work in the UK. The regulations give ‘clients’, meaning anyone for whom a project is carried out, a greater role. Once in force, the regulations will require commercial firms to appoint a principal designer and principal contractor whenever any work involves more than one contractor – even where the work involved is very limited and over quickly. The scope of ‘construction work’ under the regulations is wide, covering everything from major infrastructure projects to installing new showers.

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March 30, 2015

Driverless cars will transform the UK economy by 2030, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

A new study from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and KPMG claims that the development of connected and autonomous vehicles will help generate 320,000 jobs in the UK and deliver huge benefits to society and the economy. The first ever comprehensive analysis of the opportunities provided by the new technology claims that by 2030 driverless cars will deliver a £51 billion boost to the UK economy, reduce congestion and carbon emissions and cut serious road traffic accidents by more than 25,000. By that time all new cars will incorporate some form of connectivity, according to the report’s authors. It also predicts that the UK will be a global leader in the production of this next generation of vehicles, with the support of Government including financial backing. The study was presented at last week’s SMMT conference in London.

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March 27, 2015

MIPIM demonstrated how property industry is moving with the times

by Anna King • Comment, Property, Workplace design

In its 26th year, the colossus conference that is MIPIM was back in full flow. With 93 countries were present, 4, 500 investors and 22, 000 registered delegates there were numerous developments presenting opportunities around the world. And crucially, there were more people apparently buying than selling, meaning that strong investment activity will follow. A dumbfounding prediction from property agent Cushman & Wakefield, that global real estate investment could rise 11% to 1.2 trillion euros – an indication of just how much healthier the market is. However, the renewed positivity isn’t simply a return to the ‘good times’, it is apparent that the pain the recession brought in 2008 hasn’t been forgotten and we are seeing a revised formula for property that includes sustainability, collaboration and – crucially – people.

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March 24, 2015

Guidance published for SMEs on management and wellbeing of older workers

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

Since the the Default Retirement Age (DRA) was abolished in 2011, there’s been a growing awareness that the UK population is ageing at a rapid rate. One in six people in Britain are now over 65, with eight million workers aged 50 and over. But what is often overlooked is that the majority of older workers work for small and medium sized businesses. Of the 8 million workers who are 50 and over, 5.2 million work for businesses with less than 250 employees. Now in the first of its kind to specifically target smaller employers, new guidance published by Healthy Working Lives, part of NHS Health Scotland, aims to provide advice on hiring and managing older employees. Managing Healthy Ageing Workforces has been written by Dr Matt Flynn, Director of Newcastle University’s Centre for Research into the Older Workforce, and Kathleen Houston, Development Manager for Healthy Working Lives.