February 20, 2024

UK loses 150 million working days due to lack of workplace support for women’s health

A new poll from healthcare provider Benenden Health claims that women in the UK miss an average of nine days of work a year due to health issues, exacerbated by a lack of appropriate healthcare support for female workers. The survey also suggest that four in ten (42 percent) have heard derogatory comments about a female employee’s health in the workplace, often around them taking time off work, being difficult to work with or not able to do their job properly. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has left many women reluctant to discuss their health issues with managers, with almost half (42 percent) feeling uncomfortable doing so. More →

February 7, 2024

Whenever I hear the future of work, I reach for my pistol

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

For years it has been evident that there is no ‘future of work’. There is only a journey with no destination and no single way of not getting to it. That hasn’t stopped people talking about it all endlessly. And each time they have, I’ve reached for my pistol. More →

February 7, 2024

Half of UK businesses expect 2024 to be easier than 2023

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

UK businesses are hopeful for 2024 according to new research from Pleo. The CFO’s Playbook for 2024, which polled over +500 UK financial decision makers, found that almost 50 percent of UK businesses believe 2024 will be “easier” than 2023 (vs. 35 percent believing it will be harder and 15 percent anticipating that it will be the same as last year). As such, with a waning concern around inflation – a 20 percent decrease since 2023 – businesses are targeting more ambitious goals. Nearly three quarters are prioritising cash growth, and while this was also the primary objective of businesses last year, findings show a 163 percent increase in British businesses focussed on this ambition. More →

February 6, 2024

Hefty fine for Amazon has implications for employee surveillance policy

by Rob Smedley and Will Richmond-Coggan • News, Technology, Workplace

The French data protection watchdog CNIL has fined Amazon France Logistique €32m, equivalent to 3 percent of the entity’s annual turnover, approaching the maximum permitted level of 4 percent. Describing Amazon’s employee surveillance as “excessive”, the regulator also cited instances where the monitoring of staff was found to be outright illegal, by breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More →

February 1, 2024

Underutilised office space? I just can’t be bothered with it

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

A while ago, Antony Slumbers asked me why I thought firms had never done anything much about the underutilisation of their offices. This was in the first throes of lockdown-driven remote work hysteria, prompted by one of those headlines about how offices being half empty was some signifier of hatred for them.

February 1, 2024

Cost of living pressures hurting productivity and wellbeing

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

New research investigating how cost of living pressures are impacting the workforce has found that three quarters (74 percent) of HR leaders fear the cost of living crisis is affecting employee performance. In the survey of 500 UK HR Directors, carried out by Nous.co, a third (34 percent) of HR leaders said they’d noticed a drop in productivity due to employees having other things on their minds. Three quarters (74 percent) said financial pressures were directly affecting employee performance. More →

January 26, 2024

Age gaps between colleagues linked to lower productivity

by Jayne Smith • News

Employees who are much younger than their managers report lower productivity than those closer in age due to a lack of collaboration between employees of different generations, according to new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in collaboration with consulting firm, Protiviti. An external survey conducted by LSE of 1,450 employees in the finance, technology and professional services industries in the UK and USA, found that friction between different generations was driving down productivity and that firms need to develop intergenerationally inclusive work practices. More →

January 24, 2024

The final word on workplace wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing

The final word? Of course not. Nearly six years ago, we published an article that described how the quest for productivity had been supplanted almost entirely by a new emphasis on workplace wellbeing. It was the final nail in the coffin of scientific management and its central notion of the office as a factory, subject to rigid times and places of work and manufacturing’s culture of process, efficiency and productivity. The office a splice of factory and panopticon. More →

January 22, 2024

London’s office market is reshaping the city and the way people experience the workplace

by Sam Mardon • Comment, Property

London’s office market continues to adapt to evolving workforce demands. The normalisation of hybrid and flexible working since the pandemic remains the biggest cultural shift that the office sector has witnessed in decades. In addition to the rise in demand for quality-as-a-must in 2023, collaboration, culture, and connectivity will lead the charge for office space trends in the year ahead. More →

January 18, 2024

Workplace piffle, humane design and throwing away the blank slate

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The piece I wrote on workplace bullshit came in for quite a bit of attention when it was published and also meant I was pointed to this excellent article on how to spot it when you see it. Lots is said about the skills we’ll need to cope with the challenges of the current Century, but this is perhaps one of the most important. Especially trying to spot it in ourselves. Paradoxically, but understandably, we already seem reasonably able to spot it in our politicians and other people we don’t quite trust. More →

January 17, 2024

CEOs remain optimistic about short term growth, quarter are planning to replace people with AI

by Neil Franklin • AI, Business, News, Technology

The proportion of CEOs who believe global economic growth will improve over the next 12-months has more than doubled. At the same time, the proportion of CEOs concerned about their long-term business viability has risen to 45 percent as tech and climate pressures accelerate, according to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey. However the survey, published to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum jamboree in Davos, also reports that artificial intelligence will result in dramatic job losses in 2024 and beyond. A quarter intend to cut their headcounts by at least five percent “due to generative AI. More →

January 17, 2024

Many employers don’t think GenZ are well prepared for the workplace

by Jayne Smith • News

A new poll from WorkL claims that half of employers believe that Generation Z is not entering the workplace well-equipped with the skills and knowledge needed for their roles. The annual WorkL Global Workforce Report 2024 suggests that mentoring initiatives are being implemented by employers to support Gen Z, with four in ten employers taking the step. Having been significantly impacted by the global pandemic and the shift in traditional working practices, WorkL has seen a falling engagement score for the youngest demographic over the last 12 months; decreasing from 71 percent in 2021 down to just 67 percent in 2023, a concerning four percentage point decrease and the lowest score out of all age groups. More →