November 15, 2021

Smart cities infrastructure investment to top US$375 billion in 2030

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Technology

According to technology intelligence firm ABI Research, investments in urban infrastructure aimed at implementing new visions for smart cities will reach US$375 billion by 2030 as cities invest in brownfield and greenfield projects. Drivers behind urban innovation are numerous but both the digitalisation of lifestyles, accelerated by Covid-19, and the increasingly pressing need to address climate change are powerful engines for metropolitan transformation. Additional agents of change include the call for more equity and inclusiveness, scalable economic development, and more affordable living. More →

November 15, 2021

Upmo – the new easy-to-use platform for seekers of office space

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The brains behind Upmo are two of the equity partners at Devono – the UK’s leading commercial occupier-only advisory practice. Described by Forbes in 2015 as disrupters of the status-quo, Luke Philpott and Robert Leigh have once again come together, with the addition of technologist Alastair Bishop, to found Upmo. More →

November 12, 2021

Manchester’s office market set to be fuelled by growth in SMEs

by Jayne Smith • Cities, News, Property

Manchester’s office market could see a boost thanks to its 22,850 SME businesses says Cluttons, who have recently launched an office on King Street in the City. Recent research by distribution company Citisprint highlighted that Manchester’s SMEs are also the most confident with 33 percent saying their business is in better shape post-pandemic, and 52 percent expecting to grow in the next 12 months. More →

November 12, 2021

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year by giving workers more time to look after themselves and their families, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More →

November 11, 2021

Majority of employees lack confidence in their company’s return-to-work strategy

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Humanyze has released the second installment of the 2021 Future of Work Report, a holistic analysis of the evolution of work throughout the pandemic and employee sentiments about the post-pandemic future of the workplace. Nearly 2,300 survey responses were collected from individual employees and people managers, and compared to responses from the spring 2021 report, to identify key changes over the last 6 months. More →

November 10, 2021

2021 Digital Etiquette study highlights the rise of the invisible workforce

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

The 2021 Digital Etiquette Study by Adaptavist, highlights that 43 percent of workers in the UK want to come back to the workplace/office full-time, while the exact same figure (43 percent) favour a flexible/hybrid model and 14 percent want to be remote only. However, as hybrid work increasingly becomes the long-term future for knowledge workers, Adaptavist suggests a growing despair among employees with the tools and technologies they are using to navigate working remotely with many left feeling invisible. More →

November 9, 2021

Wearing face masks could be affecting the way we interact with others

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Hiding the bottom half of the face with a mask could have a detrimental effect on our ability to socially interact and share other people’s emotions, new research suggests. A Cardiff University-led study claims people with facial paralysis, people seeing others who wear face masks, or even children sucking on dummies, could struggle to show empathy or detect positive social cues. More →

November 8, 2021

Why real estate businesses can’t afford not to invest in sustainability

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), a global network accelerating sustainability and decarbonisation in the building and construction sector, has set out the updated value proposition to drive investment in a sustainable built environment by launching a new flagship report ‘Beyond the Business Case’ at COP26 in Glasgow. More →

November 2, 2021

Increased workload does not dampen many people’s preference for remote work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology, Wellbeing

According to a Kaspersky survey of 4,303 IT workers, 56 percent of employees have reported an increased workload since switching to remote working, with 19 percent describing the increase as significant. 40 percent did not notice a change in volume, and only 9 percent noted a decrease in the scope of work due to new working conditions. More →

October 29, 2021

Workplace balance of power shifts in favour of employees

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

The workplace power dynamic has shifted in favour of employees, according to a new study released from BCW in partnership with Workplace from Facebook (now Meta of course). The inaugural International Workforce Insights Study (registration) reveals that more than half of all employees say they feel more empowered to influence change in their workplace compared to a year ago, including with their employer’s business strategy (54 percent), company culture (55 percent) and their work experience (59 percent). This feeling of empowerment is most pronounced among Generation Z and Millennials. More →

October 29, 2021

Activity climbs in third quarter for London office market

by Jayne Smith • Cities, News, Property

The latest research from Avison Young claims that the London office market’s recovery continued in the third quarter of 2021, with activity in the occupier market increasing to 2.4 million sq ft, 26 percent above the previous quarter and 1.1 percent above the 10-year quarterly average. More →

October 26, 2021

People professionals boosted their skills in response to pandemic challenges

by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives, Workplace

Nearly two thirds (61 percent) of HR and people professionals strengthened their skills – through either upskilling or reskilling – as a result of their organisation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest People Profession survey report from the CIPD and Workday claims. More →