Search Results for: employment levels

January 24, 2018

Majority of global business leaders believe world economy will grow this year

Well over half (fifty seven percent) of business leaders say they believe global economic growth will improve in the next 12 months – almost twice (29 percent) the level of results from the annual survey carried out by PwC . Launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, the survey found that optimism in the economy is feeding into CEOs’ confidence about their own companies’ outlook. As 42 percent of CEOs said they are “very confident” in their own organisation’s growth prospects over the next 12 months, up from 38 percent last year. Looking at the results by country though, it’s a mixed bag. In the UK, with Brexit negotiations only recently reaching a significant milestone, business leaders’ drop in short-term confidence is unsurprising (2018: 34 percent vs. 2017: 41 percent). The survey also found that CEOs are determined to find the right talent needed to reap the benefits of the digital disruption, with investments in modern working environments and the establishment of learning and development programmes to help attract and develop digital talent.

January 19, 2018

You might be surprised at which nations work the longest and shortest hours

by Mark Eltringham • Workplace design

The stereotype of certain nationalities as feckless while others are industrious is upended by new data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which shows that Mexicans work significantly longer hours than anyone else in the world, the Greeks are the Europeans who spend most time at work while the Germans clock up the fewest hours of any of the 35 nations in the survey. In 2016, the average Mexican spent 2,255 hours at work, the equivalent of around 43 hours per week. Greeks worked the longest hours in Europe, at an average 2,035 hours per year with German workers putting in just 1,363 hours per year. The average UK worker, both employed and self-employed, put in an average of 1,676 hours.

January 16, 2018

Full time work has an adverse effect on wellbeing and happiness of mothers, study claims

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Mothers of children under the age of three who don’t work full time are generally more happy than those in full-time employment, a new study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies claims. The survey by Dana Hamplová of the Czech Academy of Sciences asked 5,000 mothers from 30 European countries to make a subjective assessment of their levels of wellbeing and happiness. It found that there was a small but significant increase in happiness among mothers who were not working, compared to full-time workers. The report found there were no differences in the self-reported levels of happiness of non-working mothers and those who work part time.

January 10, 2018

UK productivity growing at quickest rate for six years

by Mark Eltringham • News

Productivity in Britain is rising at its fastest rate in six years. Output per hour worked rose by 0.9 per cent between July and September of 2017, according to the latest quarterly report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was the biggest increase since 2011, when productivity grew by 1 per cent. The UK has a persistent problem with its productivity. Excluding the UK, G7 GDP per hour worked is 18 per cent higher than in Britain, with productivity in the United States 30 per cent higher, France 31 per cent and Germany 36 per cent. High productivity is considered the key to economic prosperity because it allows companies to produce more goods or services with fewer workers or hours worked. This in turn lets companies pay higher wages without having to raise prices. Many theories have been developed to explain the UK’s chronic low productivity, which are summarised by the Financial Times here (subscription or registration needed).

December 19, 2017

Employers want to grow workforce next year, but concerned about Brexit impact

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Just over half (51 percent) of firms across the UK will grow their workforce in the year ahead, with confidence highest amongst small and mid-sized firms (58 percent) according to the latest CBI/Pertemps Network Group Employment Trends Survey. But the survey warns that delivering further jobs growth depends on businesses being confident they can remain competitive if they choose to base staff in the UK. Nearly two thirds (63 percent) currently believe that changes in the UK labour market will contribute to Britain becoming a less attractive place to invest and do business over the next five years – up from 50 percent last year and 25 percent in 2015. Skills gaps were the single most prominent worry facing firms, with nearly four in five (79 percent) respondents highlighting this as a worry – up from 64 percent in 2016. Access to overseas workers is a big contributor to this, with nearly half of respondents (49 percent) identifying uncertain access to labour supply – up from 35 percent in 2016 as a concern.

December 12, 2017

Employer bias is undermining business innovation and potential says OU

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

Over a quarter of senior managers hire people just like them, and this bias is still rife in some organisations, according to new market research commissioned by The Open University. The study amongst business leaders and employees finds that three in 10 (29 percent) senior managers admit they hire people just like them, and warns employers may be overlooking candidates from different social and educational backgrounds, impacting access to talent, and hindering business innovation and performance as a result. Employers place significant importance on educational attainment (86 percent), cultural fit (77 percent), tastes and leisure pursuits (65 percent), and even social background (61 percent). Considering the typical social make up of managers, this raises concerns about diversity, a key driver of innovation, and hints at a glass ceiling for those from less privileged backgrounds, with the re-enforcement of the historical class system. The issue is prevalent in both recruitment and employment, with bias creating a ‘degree premium’, particularly at entry level.

December 12, 2017

Third of applicants turn down jobs due to lack of flexible work options

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

With employment at record levels and the labour market the fiercest it’s been for years, candidates have more choice about where they work than ever before. This is putting substantial pressures on companies to impress talented individuals through the entire recruitment and onboarding process if they want to keep them for the long term. But new research suggests that nearly half (45 percent) of job candidates have turned down a position because they weren’t impressed by the company during the interview process. According to the research by NGA Human Resources other common reasons for declining a position include having a better offer from another company (56 percent), lower than expected salary offer (49 percent) and finding out the role was not as originally described (44 percent). Modern job seekers are now looking for more than just a decent salary. In fact, 33 percent of candidates have declined a position because they didn’t have flexible work options, 29 percent due to the lack of a good benefits package and 27 percent because they didn’t feel they would fit in with their new colleagues.

December 7, 2017

Shifts in occupier behaviour and attitudes to real estate pave the way for a workplace revolution

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

The rise of the flexible office is the result of dramatic changes in the way corporate occupiers approach their real estate decisions, and will open up opportunities for landlords able to adapt and respond to these shifts. These are some of the claims from The Flexible Revolution (registration required), a pan-European report from CBRE exploring the flexible office market. Over the past decade the global flexible office market has been growing at an average of 13 percent per annum. Growth rates in EMEA (excluding UK) and APAC have averaged around 20 percent per annum, while the more mature and larger markets of the UK and the USA have seen average growth of 10 percent per annum over the same period. Key European cities like Berlin, Paris and London have all seen strong year-on-year growth of 12 – 21 percent between 2016 and 2017, which is comparable with markets like New York and San Francisco, where the flexible office concept has existed for longer.

November 30, 2017

Government targets 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases from the built environment

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK government has set some ambitious targets for construction and the environmental performance of buildings following the announcement of a Sector Deal for the construction sector. The sector deal was an integral part of the Industrial Strategy White Paper published earlier this week. In a statement, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark revealed more details of the deal supported by £170m of government investment and £250m of match funding from the built environment sector. The announcement sets out ambitious new targets for the built environment and infrastructure including a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases and a third reduction in the costs of construction and whole life costs of buildings.

November 23, 2017

Time for Britain to face up to its post-Brexit skills shortage

by Andrew White • Comment, Technology, Workplace

A new and dramatic wrinkle seems to be added to the process of Brexit talks every week. But rumbling underneath the political positioning are some fundamental problems for business. Perhaps the most startling challenge is the prospect of a cavernous skills gap. A lot of attention has been paid to the problems of low-skilled workers – the “left-behind” who voted for Brexit in the first place, and the migrants who are currently propping up the agricultural economy and doing the jobs that UK workers don’t want to do. But a more pressing issue is the fact that for too long a large proportion of our skilled labour has been coming from outside the UK. This is not only in the form of skilled individuals who are recruited to work for companies and public sector organisations in the UK, but also in the way Britain outsources the manufacture of complex parts to companies in the rest of Europe. More →

November 23, 2017

The workplace sector responds to the 2017 UK Autumn Budget

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Features, Property, Technology

Yesterday, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the details of the UK government’s latest budget. While Brexit inevitably cast its shadow over the whole thing, there were a number of announcements relevant to the workplace, construction, tech and built environment sectors, many of which have been broadly welcomed by commentators, industry bodies and experts. Among the announcements in the budget were new plans for infrastructure and planning, skills and training, the environment, productivity, AI and regional development.

November 7, 2017

New research identifies nine distinct segments of the self employed workforce

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

Far from being a homogeneous group, nine distinct segments of the solo self-employed workforce have been identified in new research published by the Centre for Research on Self-Employment, in partnership with IES. This segmentation furthers understanding of the solo self-employed population, including the levels of independence and security, and variation in earnings across this broad section of the UK workforce. The solo self-employed are those who do not employ other people and therefore work on their own account, and makes up 84 per cent of the self-employed workforce.