Search Results for: flex

Report calls for greater equality and opportunities for over 50s in the workplace

Report calls for greater equality and opportunities for over 50s in the workplace

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Report calls for greater equality and opportunities for over 50s in the workplaceA new report a new report by the Centre for Ageing Better has called for government and employers to support older workers to stay in work for longer, help those who have fallen out of work involuntarily to return and to create workplaces that work for all, irrespective of age. The report claims that ensuring older workers are able to stay in good quality employment is essential to the future of the UK economy and will relieve pressure on public finances. It makes some key recommendations that include access to flexible working hours and workplace adaptations to help people manage pressures such as caring responsibilities and health conditions, which become more prevalent with age. It also calls for equality of opportunities in the workplace as older workers in the UK experience age discrimination in recruitment and progression. They are less likely to be offered opportunities for development – across the whole of the OECD only Turkey and Slovenia have lower levels of on-the-job training for older workers than the UK. Research shows they are also the most likely to be stuck on low pay and feel most insecure about their jobs.

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Open plan offices are distracting and reduce rather than improve productivity, says report

Open plan offices are distracting and reduce rather than improve productivity, says report

by • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

Open plan offices are distracting and reduce rather than improve productivity says report

Open, collaborative work environments have been hailed as a boost to collaboration and performance, but since individual tasks that require high levels of concentration and minimum disruption still account for over half of the typical working day, noise and distraction within open plan workplaces prevent employees from focusing properly and may reduce productivity, claims a new report. According to research by Unispace, 60 percent of the average working day is devoted to individual task-focused work; 25 percent to collaboration, 7 percent to socialising and the same for learning. The research found that the issue of noise has actually become much worse over the last 12 months, with more workers complaining compared to the same research conducted in 2016. Survey respondents flagged noise (15 percent) as the primary cause of inefficiency during the working week, a number that has risen by four per cent in just 12 months. Second to this was a lack of quiet areas (13 percent), a lack of privacy (9 percent) and 7 percent felt that the temperature and air quality of their office was also a factor. The findings come as part of Unispace’s research of more than 11,000 workers in a global study of working practices and workplace design.

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The key to tackling future economic challenges is to harness the ageing workforce

The key to tackling future economic challenges is to harness the ageing workforce

by • News, Workplace

Providing American seniors with better work incentives and opportunities will be crucial for the United States to meet the challenges of its rapidly ageing population. By 2028, more than one in five Americans will be aged 65 and over, up from fewer than one in six today, according to a new OECD report. Working Better with Age and Fighting Unequal Ageing in the United States finds that employment rates among older workers in the United States are above the average across OECD countries. In 2016, 62 percent of all 55-64 year olds were employed compared with the OECD average of 59 percent. However, employment rates are much lower among the ageing workforce. Early retirement is prevalent among workers from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds, often occurring as soon as Social Security benefits become available at age 62. Poverty among seniors is a challenge: more than 20 percent of peopled aged 65 and over have incomes below the relative poverty line – defined as half of the median disposable household income – compared with the OECD average of less than 13 percent.

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Employers support post-Brexit immigration system that tackles skills and labour shortages

Employers support post-Brexit immigration system that tackles skills and labour shortages

by • News, Workplace

Employers support post-Brexit immigration system that tackles skills and labour shortagesDemand for labour is likely to remain relatively strong in the near-term which is one of the main reasons why employers support a national approach to tackling the UK’s skill and labour shortages post-Brexit, in comparison with a regional or sectoral one. According to the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD and The Adecco Group the preference for a national labour or skills shortage occupation scheme reflects the main reason given by organisations for employing EU nationals, which is that they have difficulty finding local applicants to fill lower skilled roles, as cited by 18 percent of employers. The national survey of more than 2,000 employers found that the relative majority of employers (41 percent) would prefer a UK-wide immigration system that is based on national labour or skill shortage occupations in the likely event of migration restrictions once the UK leaves the European Union. In contrast, around one in ten (13 percent) favour a sector-based policy and just 5 percent would back a regional policy.

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Employers in the dark ages over recruitment of pregnant women and new mothers, report claims

Employers in the dark ages over recruitment of pregnant women and new mothers, report claims

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

British employers are ‘living in the dark ages’ and have worrying attitudes when it comes to recruiting women, according to a new report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Claiming that many businesses’ attitudes are decades behind the law, the survey of 1,106 senior decision makers in business found around a third (36 percent) of private sector employers agree that it is reasonable to ask women about their plans to have children in the future during recruitment. The new statistics also reveal six in 10 employers (59 percent) agree that a woman should have to disclose whether she is pregnant during the recruitment process, and almost half (46 percent) of employers agree it is reasonable to ask women if they have young children during the recruitment process.

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Business leaders increasingly optimistic about benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace

Business leaders increasingly optimistic about benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace

by • AI, News, Technology

Executives at major organisations increasingly believe that pairing humans alongside machine intelligence will create a more effective, engaged, and meritocratic workplace, according to a new study released by software provider Pegasystems Inc (registration required). The authors surveyed 845 senior executives working globally across industry sectors including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and media, and government, on the increased role of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace of the future. The potential impact in the workplace seems to outweigh any lingering fears, the report claims. Around 69 percent of of respondents say “workforce” will refer to both humans and machine intelligence in the future. Nearly three-quarters of executives said using machines to augment human abilities would lead to increased efficiency. Over 60 percent said it could be used to improve customer service.

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New government campaign sets out to increase take up of shared parental leave

New government campaign sets out to increase take up of shared parental leave

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing

A new government campaigned launched today encourages more parents to take up the offer of Shared Parental Leave in their child’s first year. The workplace right for eligible parents allows them to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay after having a baby. They can take time off separately or they can be at home together for up to 6 months. Around 285,000 couples every year are eligible but take up could be as low as 2 percent, according to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and around half of the general public are unaware that the option exists for parents.

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Finance workers are amongst most stressed people in the world

Finance workers are amongst most stressed people in the world

by • News, Wellbeing

Finance workers in the UK are among the most stressed in the world, according to a study by Robert Half UK. The survey of 2000 people including 200 senior finance managers claims that 78 percent of Chief Financial Officers in the UK believe stress levels will rise in the next two years, with over a third (31 percent) saying they would grow significantly. CFOs believe that increased workloads (51 percent), growing business expectations (49 percent) and a lack of staff (40 percent) will send stress levels soaring.

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Millions of German workers win the right to a 28 hour working week

Millions of German workers win the right to a 28 hour working week

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Europe’s largest trade union, IG Metall, has secured an unprecedented deal this week to give a large proportion of its 2.3 million members more flexible working hours and a significant pay rise. From next year, workers at many of Germany’s most important engineering firms can opt to take on a 28 hour working week for up to two years, before returning to a standard 35-hour week. Employers will not be able to prevent individual workers from taking up the offer.

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Extension of rights for gig economy workers are broadly welcomed

Extension of rights for gig economy workers are broadly welcomed

by • Flexible working, News

The government is to give so-called gig economy workers new rights including holiday and sick pay for the first time. Its new Good Work plan is a direct response to last year’s Taylor Review which recommended changes in conditions to reflect modern working practices and extend the rights of workers in the new economy. The government has said it will proceed with almost all the review’s recommendations including giving zero-hour and agency workers the right to request a more stable contract.

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Report reveals astonishing cost of congested road system during rush hour

Report reveals astonishing cost of congested road system during rush hour

by • Cities, News, Wellbeing

UK drivers wasted an average of 31 hours in rush hour traffic last year, costing each motorist £1,168, a study by traffic data firm Inrix suggests. The UK is the world’s 10th most congested country and London is Europe’s second most gridlocked city after Moscow, according to the report which claims that overall traffic congestion cost UK drivers more than £37.7 billion in 2017

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Part time work and career breaks are a fundamental driver of gender pay gap

Part time work and career breaks are a fundamental driver of gender pay gap

by • Flexible working, News

gender pay gapParents are being hit by a “pay penalty” if they work in part-time jobs, according to a new study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The report found that mothers in particular tend to spend more time in part-time employment, so they do not benefit from pay rises associated with more experience, research found. By the time a first child reaches the age of 20, mothers earn around 30 percent less on average than similarly educated fathers, said the report, and the issue is a fundamental driver of the gender pay gap.

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