December 7, 2022

Over half of offices not set up to optimise creativity and productivity

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace design

A study from Unispace claims that the majority of workplaces are not set up to enable staff to work to their best ability. The results of the poll of 3,000 office workers and 2,750 employers across Europe, found that despite 78 percent of businesses stating that their office has been set up to enable staff to be creative and productive, over half (52 percent) of employers noted that creativity and innovation among their employees increased while work from home guidance was in place. Full findings can be found in Promoting workplace creativity and productivity [registration]. More →

December 7, 2022

Growing numbers of young people feel alienated by jobs market

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

New research from City & Guilds suggests that the odds are being stacked against young people’s futures and career aspirations – particularly the most disadvantaged. Following a trend of chronically high youth unemployment, the poll of 5,000 18-24-year-olds living in the UK claims that 13 percent are currently unemployed (not in work or studying) and a further 3 percent are economically inactive – equating to approximately 859,000 young adults out of work and education across the UK. More →

November 30, 2022

Always connected in the age of disconnection

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

All of humanity’s problems,” the French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in 1654, “stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” He may have been right, but then again, sitting in a room alone isn’t necessarily a great state of permanent being either. There was a time we used to talk with dismay about the Japanese phenomenon of intense social distancing known as hikikomori. We would consider with horror the isolation, lack of engagement with society, poor mental health and loneliness of the people who had almost completely withdrawn to their rooms. Those poor bastards locked up in enclosed spaces linked to the outside world only by screens. More →

November 23, 2022

The unspoken privilege of wellbeing

by Stephanie Fitzgerald • Comment, SF, Wellbeing

I sat in the main hall at a recent conference, listening to the keynote presentation. A Head of HR at a large manufacturing company described the implementation of their wellbeing strategy over the last year. So far, so important. There is no doubt that the conversation around wellbeing has been rightly amplified, as employees are seeking to gain and maintain more life in their work-life balance. However, as I sat there listening, I became uncomfortable. Seriously uncomfortable. Then I became cross. More →

November 22, 2022

Half of small business owners have no fixed working hours at all

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Wellbeing

A new report from Samsung suggests that the stereotype of the typical small business owners as a person who work around the clock is outdated. Around half of full-time business owners in the UK say they have no fixed work hours at all, preferring a fluid workday set up. One-third (31 percent) of business owners also said they commit to fewer than 7 hours as a typical core working day, preferring to work when optimal to their businesses. More →

November 14, 2022

Major new report offers snapshot of hybrid and remote work debate in the US

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Owl Labs and Global Workplace Analytics have just released their sixth annual State of Remote Work report. Based on a survey of over 2,300 full-time workers across the United States, the report reveals the latest trends and perspectives on a range of issues from remote work and hybrid work, trust, intent to move, training offered, workplace redesign, intent and reasons for quitting, technology needs, employee surveillance, the 4-day workweek, and more.

November 10, 2022

Retrofitting buildings essential to reduce energy costs and combat the global energy crisis

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

A new report from JLL claims that rising energy costs are expediting the move toward more efficient buildings. JLL’s Retrofitting Buildings to be Future-Fit research suggests that net-zero carbon (NZC) intervention measures directly impact a building’s bottom line and that failing to decarbonise leads to significant financial risk. For many buildings, meeting 2050 decarbonization targets put forward in the Paris Climate Agreement is grounded in retrofitting current spaces, which can also garner higher rents, reduce financial risk and generate higher occupancy rates and tenant satisfaction. More →

November 7, 2022

EFG utilises KI products to create an elegant, sophisticated workspace

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Works Magazine

Swiss private bank firm EFG International has recently moved to Park Street in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood. Their new facilities are a manifestation of their brand and provide an elegant, sophisticated experience for their team and visitors alike. The move has allowed the business to change its layout from traditional offices to a more open space that supports hybrid working. The new space was designed by Simon Hart and Stefano Albanese of AIS Interiors. As part of the transition, project furniture consultants byBailey selected KI desking and storage solutions. More →

October 25, 2022

The underlying problems with the way we think about work

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

An idea that has never really gone away, but which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life is the tabula rasa. The conception of people as a blank slate is something a that has crept back into mainstream political and social thought for a variety of reasons. Arguably, it is also behind many of the most misleading notions about work and workplace design, perhaps most importantly that a change to some single element or characteristic of a working environment will lead to a specific outcome in the behaviour of people. More →

October 24, 2022

Orgatec 2022 preview – a chance to create new friends and new memories

by Mick Jordan • Comment, Workplace design, Works Magazine

For as long as we’ve been in this industry, we’ve sat and chatted with leading lights from the London furniture market, first listening to fantastic tales and raucous anecdotes, and later telling our own recollections of Cologne. We originally wondered whether these stories were simply that – mere myths and Chinese whispers. Then, of course, we headed to Orgatec, we walked the halls of the Messe, we spent our evenings in the Alter Markt, and we returned to Blighty with our very own Cologne anecdotes. More →

October 20, 2022

Winter is coming: don’t be in the dark about blackouts

by Jo Sutherland • Environment, Features, Wellbeing

The National Grid has warned that the UK could face blackouts this winter. The worst-case scenario is that homes and businesses could lose power for pre-defined periods of up to three hours if gas power plants are not able to keep running due to the energy crisis that keeps on giving – or rather, taking. While the British government has dropped its energy rationing campaign, which once formed a crucial part of its plan to prepare for potential energy shortages and blackouts, countries across Europe are drawing up winter contingency plans, as are forward-thinking businesses. More →

October 19, 2022

Remote workers can find it hard to switch off. There’s now an app for that

by Anthony Thompson • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

The last few years have seen our approach to work change dramatically. Technology has helped to unlock whole new ways of communicating and interacting, providing the flexibility for employees to work in a way that suits them best and creating a large number of remote workers for the first time. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, this switch was on the cards. From an employer perspective, digital tools can allow for communication across the world, opening up access to a whole host of talent and wider consumer exposure. More →