Search Results for: employment

Half of unemployed men aged 50+ out of work for at least a year

Half of unemployed men aged 50+ out of work for at least a year

unemployed menThere were nearly 200,000 men aged 50 and older out of work between September and November 2021 – an increase of 24 percent in two years – and 50 percent of them were unemployed for at least a year, according to new analysis from Rest Less, a digital community and advocate for older people. Rest Less analysed the latest labour market data from the Office of National Statistics to find that unemployed men aged 50+ are significantly more likely to be in long-term unemployment, defined as out of work for at least a year, than any other age group. More →

Critical industries at risk of collapse as people shun key worker jobs

Critical industries at risk of collapse as people shun key worker jobs

critical industriesSectors critical to putting food on the table and looking after the health of people are on a cliff edge as working age adults shun many of the essential jobs in critical industries that keep the UK running – from food production and logistics to health and social care. That’s according to new research from skills development organisation, City & Guilds. The research finds that despite key workers seeing the nation through the pandemic, the UK’s most vital industries are being threatened by growing skills shortages, as poor reputations and concerns about low pay turn off potential new recruits. More →

Workplace culture needs a rethink in line with employees’ changing priorities

Workplace culture needs a rethink in line with employees’ changing priorities

workplace cultureConsiderable job insecurity and uncertainty has pushed companies to rethink their workplace culture to meet employees’ new needs, priorities, and expectations, according to the annual Fjord Trends report from Accenture. According to the report, nearly two years of social, economic and employment disruption has resulted in a collective shift in people’s relationships with work and employees are re-assessing what they want and expect from a company culture and employee value proposition. This means enhancing workplace flexibility, benefits packages, and greater employee care and compassion will continue to be notable trends in 2022, creating both challenges and opportunities for businesses looking to retain and recruit talent. More →

Hybrid working? Let’s put on a show

Hybrid working? Let’s put on a show

hybrid working performanceI’m currently rereading Art Kleiner’s masterful book The Age of Heretics which describes the history of ground-breaking thought in management in the 20th Century and the lessons we forget. It remains a relevant book for the new era of ‘hybrid working’ because the book draws a distinction between two fundamental schools of thought in management theory. One of these sees management as a numbers game in which people are inherently problematic and so must be directed what to do based on data and routines of desirable activity and behaviour. And the other sees people as well meaning, capable and adaptable with managers there to facilitate and channel their abilities and help them develop. More →

Social media posts are harming many people’s job prospects

Social media posts are harming many people’s job prospects

social media and careersWith the ‘Great Resignation’ driving people to look for new employment opportunities in the New Year, social media activity could be harming career prospects, with a third of British workers (32 percent) reporting this to be the case, according to new data from Kaspersky. This number rises to almost half (47 percent) of those at graduate or entry level. In addition, 40 percent worry that their historic online presence could have an adverse effect on their future employment. More →

Are we witnessing the demise of the knowledge worker?

Are we witnessing the demise of the knowledge worker?

Death of the knowledge worker?While the debate about working from home versus working in the office continues, should the real conversation focus on the implications for a typical knowledge worker? ‘Knowledge work’ is a term that dates back over sixty years. It’s said to be first coined by Peter Drucker in his 1958 book The Landmarks of Tomorrow. The business guru went on to talk about knowledge workers in a later book, The Effective Executive, in 1966. He defined them as ‘high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge acquired through formal training, to develop products and services’. More →

Great Resignation offers firms a chance to create the Great Retention

Great Resignation offers firms a chance to create the Great Retention

Great Resignation and the Great RetentionThe last 18 months have seen unprecedented change. Covid-19 has forced people to re-evaluate every aspect of their lives, including their career. As a result, we’ve seen a surge in workers taking charge of their careers and leaving their jobs as part of the so-called Great Resignation. Recent data from the ONS shows that there were nearly 1.2 million job vacancies in the UK this quarter, with 15 of 18 sectors reporting record numbers. More →

Risk of job losses has been falling for years, but at a price

Risk of job losses has been falling for years, but at a price

job lossesDecades of declining change in the UK labour market has reduced the risk of damaging job losses, but also limited opportunities for pay-enhancing job moves, according to new research published by the Resolution Foundation for The Economy 2030 Inquiry. More →

Startups fuelling growth in demand for flexible offices

Startups fuelling growth in demand for flexible offices

flexible officesAccording to  data from The Instant Group 584,097 companies have been registered in the UK since the start of 2021 – this equates to 1,781 per day. The most companies registered in 2021 so far have been in London, Birmingham, and Manchester. The growth in start-ups has fuelled an increase in demand for flexible offices across the UK’s cities, with large proportional increases outside London. Requirements for coworking and serviced offices has grown significantly in cities such as Bristol (41 percent), Manchester (28 percent), and Reading (27 percent) over the past year. More →

Employers admit they would likely terminate an employee’s contract if they were homeless

Employers admit they would likely terminate an employee’s contract if they were homeless

homelessFour out of ten employers (42 percent) from across the UK have admitted they would likely seek to terminate an employees’ contract if they were homeless, despite nearly one in four households in England being at risk of or experiencing homelessness, claims a new report by Crisis. More →

Drawing on internal skills can help firms cope with Great Resignation

Drawing on internal skills can help firms cope with Great Resignation

internal skillsThe UK’s workforce is undergoing rapid transformation as employees’ expectations and motivations radically change. The impact of Brexit, COVID-19 and long periods of furlough have created a tidal wave of resignations across every industry. Workers are re-thinking career paths, work conditions and long-term goals after a turbulent 18 months; with one study finding that 38 percent of people are looking to change roles in the new year.  More →

Artificial Intelligence to guide organisations through new challenges

Artificial Intelligence to guide organisations through new challenges

artificial intelligenceThe World Economic Forum published the “Human-Centred AI for Human Resources: A Toolkit for Human Resources Professionals” to scale the responsible use of artificial intelligence in Human Resources (HR). The toolkit includes a guide covering key topics and steps in the responsible use of AI-based HR tools, and two checklists – one focused on strategic planning and the other on the adoption of a specific tool. More →