Search Results for: pandemic

Younger workers drive higher workplace expectations

Younger workers drive higher workplace expectations

younger workersAccording to a poll from Benefex, three quarters (77 percent) of workers admit they expect more of their employer now than since the start of the pandemic, and eight in 10 state that their employee experience at work is more important than a year ago.  However, expectations have risen significantly more among employees under the age of 40, compared with those aged 40 and above. Eight in ten of the under 40s said both their expectations of their employer and their employee experience at work had increased since the coronavirus compared to 67 percent and 70 percent of the over 40s respectively. More →

The UK is entering a new unstable period of employment relations

The UK is entering a new unstable period of employment relations

employment relationsA new study from the CIPD shows that a tight labour market, combined with a cost-of-living crisis and falling wages, could fuel further industrial action in the coming months. The CIPD is urging employers to engage with their recognised employee representatives and trade unions to avoid issues escalating to strike action. The data, gathered in January 2022, offered  what the CIPD says is a stark warning for what has now become a reality – that a lack of engagement with employee representatives will lead to worse employment relations and possible strike action. More →

Four day week should be about people, not productivity

Four day week should be about people, not productivity

four day weekYou may well have seen the announcement that more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies, ranging from a chippy and a distillery to leading financial institutions, have started working a four day week, with no loss of pay, in what is described as ‘the world’s biggest trial of the new working pattern’. The pilot – which will run for six months – is being organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with the think tank, Autonomy, and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College. More →

Flex office space market in UK set to increase by half over next four years

Flex office space market in UK set to increase by half over next four years

Instant Group flex officeHybrid working policies are driving demand in the flexible workspace market as companies are using coworking and serviced offices at record levels. In its annual UK Market Update Report, The Instant Group’s data claims that demand for flex office space across the country is up 22 percent in the last 12 months. Cities – such as Leeds and Manchester are leading the way in this increase although there are also signs of a recovery in central London. The size of the space being taken with flex operators has also increased by 44 percent since the pandemic as larger companies incorporate more flexible workspace in their real estate portfolios. More →

Hybrid working can help graduates succeed

Hybrid working can help graduates succeed

hybrid workingThe pandemic has transformed how we think about and approach the workplace, with the majority of employees having alternated between remote and hybrid working over the last two years. While this experience has been almost universal, many have found this transition challenging – even for the established professionals used to adapting to change. But what does this mean for those about to enter the workplace for the first time? More →

Four day week rejected by majority of SME leaders

Four day week rejected by majority of SME leaders

four day weekAround three quarters (76 percent) of UK business leaders are either unlikely or very unlikely to introduce the four day work week to their business, according to the latest quarterly UK SME CEO Confidence Index for Q2 2022 from Vistage. The study reports that the SME business confidence index hit 77 points, a 22 percent decrease since the last quarter. The index suggests that small and medium sized businesses overall feel pessimistic about the current economic landscape. 69 percent of SME leaders think that economic conditions have significantly worsened over the last 12 months. Only 5 percent predict that the economic landscape will improve over the next year, while 72 percent strongly believe that the economy will further deteriorate. More →

Supply chain disruption sees costs and complexity ramp up

Supply chain disruption sees costs and complexity ramp up

supply chain disruptionTwo-thirds (66 percent) of large enterprises globally say they are keeping more stock on hand now compared to the pre-pandemic period, with nearly one in five in total (18 percent) retaining ‘significantly more’ stock. This growing focus on taking innovative measures to address supply chain disruption is highlighted in new research commissioned by IFS, polling over 1,450 senior decision-makers at large enterprises across France, Germany, Nordics, USA, the UK and the UAE. More →

The fifteen minute city will transform the way we think about workplaces

The fifteen minute city will transform the way we think about workplaces

Paris fifteen minute cityFor most of history, there have been a small number of immovable truisms that formed the nature of what work is, and how communities form around it. While individuals have long held some agency around the structure and pattern of their work, being present in a communal workplace has been a non-negotiable reality. This need to work from an office comes wed with parallel requirements to help facilitate it. Employees have been willing to strike a compromise between where they wish to live and where they want to work through commutes, with the financial and time cost and associated stress that comes along with it. More →

Hard up workers look to second jobs, side hustles and help from current employers

Hard up workers look to second jobs, side hustles and help from current employers

hard up workers and second jobsNine in ten UK employees have, or would be interested in a second job, as the COVID-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis sees hard up workers keen to increase incomes and turn hobbies into enterprises according to a poll in Benenden Health’s ‘Workforce of the Future’ report. It claims that almost one in three employees in the UK currently have a second occupation (29 percent), with half of these taking up their additional role during the pandemic. Meanwhile, another survey, from Culture Amp claims that six out of ten employees in the UK believe that their employers should help with the rising cost of living. More →

The perfect storm shouldn’t force us to jump aboard the wrong ship

The perfect storm shouldn’t force us to jump aboard the wrong ship

For all the millions of words written and gabbed about work and its future over the past couple of years, one of the few things we can say with any certainty is that we still don’t know which parts of it all are short-term responses to events, and which are permanent long-term shifts.

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Is change your friend or your enemy?

Is change your friend or your enemy?

changeIs change your friend or your enemy?  If you are a young person leaving home for the first time and are excited about the prospects of striking out on your own – change is most likely your friend.  But if you are the parent, watching your child leave the nest, and your close protection, then change could very possibly be your enemy. The same is true when it comes to introducing new ways of working in an organisation.  Some people will like the ‘old ways’ because they are familiar and comfortable – they are like second nature and hence don’t take any real thinking. Whereas for others, the ‘new way’ may be quite faster, easier or simply exciting because it is different. More →

Hybrid working now part of life at majority of organisations, but will it last?

Hybrid working now part of life at majority of organisations, but will it last?

hybrid workingA new poll from the CIPD suggests that more than three-quarters of organisations have  now embraced hybrid working through a mix of formal and informal arrangements. However, employers are split over whether the move to new ways of working will last or if organisations will go back to pre-pandemic ways of working. In response, the CIPD is urging employers to seize the moment to develop and embed new ways of working that will ultimately benefit organisations and their people. More →