December 14, 2021
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), together with the World Green Building Council, several European Green Building Councils, Climate Alliance and the Buildings Performance Institute Europe, has published a framework to support cities and local authorities to measure the impacts and wider benefits of building retrofit as a way of meeting their net zero targets. More →
December 7, 2021
Recruitment firm PageGroup has releases a study which claims to shine a light on the wide range of perceived barriers facing disabled individuals in the world of work. The findings reveal how far UK businesses still have to go to level the playing field for disabled candidates. According to Parliamentary Briefing Papers on Disability Equality in the Workplace, 8.4 million people in the UK are disabled and of working age, yet only 4.4 million are in employment. During a period of candidate shortages across multiple sectors, PageGroup polled 1,000 business leaders to understand the obstacles their business faces when looking to hire disabled candidates. More →
December 3, 2021
World Menopause Day is held each year on 18 October and its purpose is “to raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing” according to the International Menopause Society. This autumn, we have seen this awareness translated into a practical response by the UK Government. More →
December 2, 2021
The majority (57 percent) of employers agree that the right to request flexible working should be a day-one right, claims research from the CIPD. Agreement is highest from those in the public sector (69 percent) compared to those in the private sector (54 percent). In addition, larger organisations of 250+ employees were more likely to agree than SMEs (62 percent compared to 51 percent). More →
December 2, 2021
Seven in 10 (70 percent) of UK HR managers now say flexible working could work for their business – claims a new TUC poll. Half (49 percent) of UK HR managers polled said that greater flexible working could work for their business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, building on the one in five (21 percent) who say that their business already enabled significant flexible working before the pandemic. More →
November 30, 2021
The pandemic has not led to mass unemployment as many feared, but has instead driven wider shifts that have increased employment among younger women, but pushed many men and older workers out of the labour market altogether, according to new research. More →
November 26, 2021
There is a classic saying which has shaped our job choices for years: “Do what you love, the money will follow.” New research suggests this may be true, although not in the way it was originally conceived. The typical logic train has suggested job interest shapes satisfaction and, in turn, satisfaction may drive better performance. However, new research published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior provides some fresh perspectives. It turns out satisfaction has many facets. While interest is one component in job satisfaction, it is not the primary component. Elements such as the organization, relationships with colleagues, leadership and compensation are actually more important than interest in predicting satisfaction. More →
November 26, 2021
New research, ‘Flexonomics: The economic and fiscal logic of flexible working’, highlights the economic benefits of flexible working to the UK economy. Flexonomics builds on our long-standing support of the Flex Appeal campaign by Anna Whitehouse, aka Mother Pukka, and follows the publication of our “Forever Flex: Making flexible working work beyond a crisis” report, published last year. More →
November 25, 2021
A new report ‘Has work become less secure?’ from the CIPD claims that, overall, employment in the UK has actually become more secure on most measures over the last decade – despite the impact of the pandemic. Compared with 2010, there are proportionally fewer people today working variable hours, working part-time involuntarily, or wanting to work more hours. More →
November 24, 2021
A flexible work culture is a key consideration for the majority of young workers when choosing a job, with over half (53 percent) of 18-34-year-olds claiming that talented young people won’t join companies that are inflexible about the way their people choose to work. More →
November 23, 2021
At the end of April, New York magazine’s cover feature was headed ‘Remember the Office?’ The article reminisced about a world of cubicles and water-coolers, coffee points and staff parties. Its tone was elegiac, implying that it wasn’t just the enforced distance of 13 months of COVID-19 restrictions that lent enchantment to communal workspace, but the possibility that offices had gone for good.? More →
December 14, 2021
Drawing on internal skills can help firms cope with Great Resignation
by Mike Baker • Comment, Workplace