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People are happy at work but yearn for better tech and a second job

People are happy at work but yearn for better tech and a second job 0

Happy at workThe recent riots across France sparked by mooted reforms to labour laws have been attributed to French workers objecting to the creation of working cultures akin to those in the UK and US. In which case, it would be interesting to see how our Gallic cousins might respond to the findings of a new report from Adobe which suggests that workers in both the UK and US as well as India see technology as the key perk they look for at work and many are perfectly happy to work more than one job and don’t expect long term commitments to (and from) their employers, although many of them also feel defined by what they do for a living and are happy at work. According to The Work in Progress report, a quarter of UK workers already moonlight and over two thirds believe that better technology would be the single most important way of improving their working lives. The same attitudes are also prevalent in responses from workers in both the US and India.

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Large scale study finds link between mental health and workaholism

Large scale study finds link between mental health and workaholism 0

workaholismA new large scale study from Norwegian researchers finds that workaholism is closely associated with a range of mental diseases and psychiatric disorders. Although the link has been the subject of speculation and study, the authors claim that the new research is one of the few large scale, academic studies into the subject and so comes up with unequivocal results. The study of  16,426 Norwegian subjects in The Relationships between Workaholism and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders found that workaholism is significantly related to psychiatric conditions such as adult ADHD, OCD, clinical anxiety and depression. The web-based survey assessed the mental health and workaholic characteristics of subjects and used statistical analysis to establish a correlation. It concludes that while disorders can be put in part down to demographic and other factors, the ‘correlations between workaholism and all psychiatric disorder symptoms were positive and significant’.

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The problems that come with London’s success need better solutions

The problems that come with London’s success need better solutions 0

walkie-talkie-tower-bridgeWe might all welcome London’s success as a thriving centre of commerce and culture, but this comes at a price and we need to look for a better balance than we currently see between London and the rest of the UK. Of course London is often the main victim of its own success. Its thriving tech and creative firms continue to spill out of the incubator districts created for them to find cheaper and more appropriate spaces in which to grow. In doing so they are pushing up rents in such unlikely nearby places as Croydon. In the traditional business districts in the City and Docklands, the capital’s tech giants are now able to compete for the first time for some of the most expensive real estate on the planet. To cope with demand, the Mayor is rubberstamping tall buildings like never before, many of them bloody awful, unloved by Londoners and heritage organisations alike, transforming the skyline and creating windswept, arid tundra at their feet.

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Pregnancy and maternity discrimination has risen over the past year

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination has risen over the past year 0

Pregnancy discrimation at workiThere has been a 25 percent rise in people seeking advice on pregnancy and maternity discrimination over the past year; new figures from Citizens Advice have revealed, and it has growing evidence that pregnant women and new mums have had their working hours cut, been put onto zero-hours contracts, pressured to return to work early from maternity leave and, in extreme cases, have been forced out of their jobs. New figures from the national charity also show there has been a 22 percent increase in people seeking online help, with the charity’s web advice viewed 22,000 times over the last 12 months. Between April 2015 and March 2016 almost 2,000 people turned to Citizens Advice for help with pregnancy and maternity discrimination, up from just over 1,500 in the previous 12 months. In 4 out of 5 cases people were also seeking help with problems at work, a third of which were about redundancy or dismissal.

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Lack of pay and support prevents ill or injured UK workers taking time off

Lack of pay and support prevents ill or injured UK workers taking time off 0

Sick pay in the UKMore than half of ill or injured property and construction workers still go into work because they can’t afford to take time off, a new survey on 2000 employees within the UK has revealed. The data gathered by First4lawyers on the run up to Brexit on EU employment law and sick pay has revealed how European countries treat their sick or injured workers. The results show that while a UK worker off work for a month would only receive 15 percent of their monthly wage – those in Germany receive 100 percent. This lack of pay forces many UK workers back into the workplace, but nearly three quarters (71 percent) also say they are scared to have time off work because they fear their employers opinion of them; 30 percent say their boss acts different toward them after asking for time off sick, and more than 1 in 3 say their employer does not support them during this time.

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Three day working week is ideal for the over 40s, claim researchers

Three day working week is ideal for the over 40s, claim researchers 0

Three day working weekA new report from Australian academics suggests that workers aged over 40 perform better and have generally improved wellbeing if they enjoy a three day working week. Called Use It Too Much and Lose It? The Effect of Working Hours on Cognitive Ability, the study of 6,500 men and women was carried out by researchers at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research at the University of Melbourne. They gauged a range of subjective and objective factors based on data drawn from the Australian government’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics survey as well as looking at work habits and factors such as type of employment, lifestyle and family. The researchers asked participants in the study to take part in cognitive tests the results of which suggest that the optimum working week is around 25 hours. Conversely the study suggest that the cognitive ability of those working about 60 hours a week can be lower than those who are not employed at all.

Technology firms will determine the future of real estate, claims report

Technology firms will determine the future of real estate, claims report 0

future of real estateThe future of real estate will be shaped by the confluence of technological and physical infrastructure, the growth of flexible working, shrinking lease lengths, a shift in focus away from location and the changing expectations of occupiers. These are the key and perhaps unsurprising conclusions of a new report from KPMG. One of the most intriguing findings of the New Foundations report is that the widespread application of data analytics and the growing number of occupiers who will use office space as a service will lead to a greater degree of collaboration between property and technology firms to offer space to clients. Although property firms may still take the lead, the report suggests that ‘serviced office models are just the beginning of this trend and specialist companies will emerge to scale up and manage these income streams. These might be joint ventures between existing property owners and technology providers.’

While politicians squabble, here’s what the Budget meant for the workplace

While politicians squabble, here’s what the Budget meant for the workplace 0

Bash streetStrange as it may seem now, there was a Budget last week. We’d planned to produce a report on it once the dust had settled but given that whatever dust had originally been kicked up has now been swept away by a political storm, it’s only now we feel able to offer some perspective a few days out. As ever these days, the budget touched on a number of aspects of the workplace, sometimes hitting the mark and sometimes suggesting politicians don’t yet understand how people work. There was the usual stuff about rates and commercial property but also plenty to digest about the freelance economy, productivity, new technology, flexible working legislation and the current, often faltering attempts to develop wealth and infrastructure as well as the 21st Century creative and digital economy in places other than London. There’s plenty to digest here and plenty of people have already had their say, so a chance to grab a coffee and take all or some of it in.

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Study confirms that commuting by car has serious health consequences

Study confirms that commuting by car has serious health consequences 0

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Adults who commute to work via cycling or walking have markedly lower body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI) measures in their mid-life compared to adults who commute via car, according to a new study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal. Even people who commute via public transport also showed reductions in BMI and percentage body fat compared with those who commuted only by car. This suggests that even the incidental physical activity involved in taking journeys by public transport may be significant. The study looked at data from over 150,000 individuals from the UK Biobank dataset, a large, observational study of 500,000 individuals aged between 40 and 69 in the UK. The study is the largest to date to analyse the health benefits of active transport. The strongest associations were seen for adults who commuted via bicycle, compared to those who commute via car.

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Report sets out challenges for rapidly changing Australian workplace

Report sets out challenges for rapidly changing Australian workplace 0

Digital workingWhen it comes to innovation in workplace design and management, there are few countries in the world quite so forward thinking as Australia right now. Even so, Australia’s workers, firms and legislators remain under-prepared for the rapidly changing world of work, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a Government funded research agency. Many of the trends outlined in the report will be familiar to readers of Insight. Over the next twenty years, it claims that around half (44 percent) of all jobs will be subject to computerisation and automation. Over the same period, it suggests that the majority of people will become active in the gig economy, many of them based in shared coworking spaces. The report also suggests that while Generation Z will be faced with the highest degree of change, an ageing population presents its own challenges.

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Younger workers more engaged at work than middle aged staff

Younger workers more engaged at work than middle aged staff 0

Third of Millennials more engaged by contributing to company vision than a high salaryCompanies with stronger financial performances and better customer experience have employees who are considerably more engaged than their peers, a new survey by Temkin Group claims. The research also shows that out of all the industries, the construction sector has the highest percentage of engaged employees. Organisations with 501 to 1,000 employees have the highest percentage of engaged employees and companies with 10,000 or more employees have the lowest level of engagement. Employees who are highly educated, high-income earners, executives, male, and have very good bosses tend to be the most highly engaged. 63 percent of highly engaged employees always try their hardest at work, compared with 42 percent of disengaged employees. And for those who doubt the commitment of millennials – 25- to 34-year-old employees are the most engaged group, while 45- to 54-year-old employees are the least engaged.

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Embracing the inevitable rise of the robots in the workplace

Embracing the inevitable rise of the robots in the workplace 0

387773-computers-circuit-board-hdWe often have reason these days to speculate on the truth of an idea known as Amara’s Law. First coined by the researcher Roy Amara it states that “we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run”. But defining what we mean by short and long term can be very difficult when technology is changing so quickly. Nothing better illustrates this than the issue of how automation will transform society and workplaces. For the past few years, the effects have mainly been the subject of academic and scientific research alongside some lurid headlines in the mainstream media. So, a fairly typical 2013 paper from researchers at Oxford University assessed the risk faced by over 700 professions and discovered that nearly half of all jobs in the US could be categorised as at high risk of automation. Less academic studies such as a report published last year by Deloitte draw similar conclusions.

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