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The hybrid working office: ushering in a new era for the workspace

The hybrid working office: ushering in a new era for the workspace

The increased adoption of hybrid working has led to a significant change in the way that people view a workplaceLife after COVID has led to a significant change in the way that people view a workplace. Working from home on a regular basis has become typical, not ad hoc or as required. Commuting five days a week to attend an office is no longer the norm and on the whole is no longer demanded – rather, we have seen organisations adopt hybrid working. This has meant the rationale for a physical office workspace has come under considerable scrutiny. Some organisations have gone as far as being completely remote and have released all office real estate. More →

Where are the iconic office furniture products of yesterday?

Where are the iconic office furniture products of yesterday?

A new image of Bauhaus students from 1927 raises interesting questions about the design of office furnitureLate last year, this image went viral on social media. It is of a group of Bauhaus design students from around 1927. They are called Martha Erps, Katt Both and Ruth Hellos. The full image (reproduced below) shows them with legendary office furniture designer Marcel Breuer, who Erps would later marry. The story of the photograph can be found here. On social media, though, the standard response from people of a certain vintage – my vintage admittedly – is to suggest that they were last seen supporting Echo and the Bunnymen at the Barrowland Glasgow in 1984.  More →

New occupational health taskforce will ‘tackle in-work sickness and drive down inactivity’

New occupational health taskforce will ‘tackle in-work sickness and drive down inactivity’

New Occupational Health Taskforce to tackle in-work sickness and drive down inactivityBusinesses will be urged to tackle in-work sickness and stop people falling out the workforce, following the appointment of Dame Carol Black as the Government’s new Occupational Health Tsar. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, she will lead a new Taskforce to improve employer awareness of the benefits of Occupational Health in the workplace. More →

How Gulliver’s Travels predicted AI and our attempts to make sense of it all

How Gulliver’s Travels predicted AI and our attempts to make sense of it all

Gullivers Travels includes a description of a machine that woks very like modern AI systems, and with the same drawbacksGulliver’s Travels is one of those books we assume we know. But what we tend to recall is some stuff about Lilliput, giants, talking horses and possibly something about scientists trying to extract sunbeams from cucumbers. It’s really about one man’s descent into disillusion with the human race. It is acerbic, occasionally tediously detailed, and offers insight into some aspects of the human condition, which makes it timeless. More →

New guidance on storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace

New guidance on storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace

The British Safety Council has published an introductory guide for employers to help them manage risks posed by storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplaceThe British Safety Council has published an introductory guide for employers to help them manage risks posed by storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace. Most e-bikes are powered by Lithium Ion (Li-on) batteries, larger versions of the kind found in our smartphones, tablets, and some laptops. More →

Helsinki announces plans for new Museum of Architecture and Design

Helsinki announces plans for new Museum of Architecture and Design

Helsinki City Council has agreed to part fund a new national museum of architecture and design. Design competition also announcedHelsinki City Council has voted to provide a donation of 60 million euros to the foundation responsible for establishing the new national museum of architecture and design. The Finnish state will match this funding, with an additional 30 million euros to be raised from private donations. With these commitments in place, an international design competition for the new museum building will be launched in April. The new museum will sit at the heart of a new pedestrian-friendly district in Helsinki’s South Harbour. More →

Club Employés and Weavr partner to give people more choice and control over employee benefits

Club Employés and Weavr partner to give people more choice and control over employee benefits

European employee benefits platform, Club Employés, has partnered with embedded finance specialists, Weavr, to power a debit card solution for employee benefitsEuropean employee benefits platform, Club Employés, has partnered with embedded finance specialists, Weavr, to power a debit card solution for employee benefits, which gives employees the power to pick the perks they prefer. By expanding access to relevant benefits through the capabilities of embedded finance, employees are more likely to engage with the benefits provided by their employers. More →

Cautious welcome for government’s disability plan which aims to make UK ‘most accessible nation’

Cautious welcome for government’s disability plan which aims to make UK ‘most accessible nation’

he UK government has announced details of its new Disability Action Plan which includes 32 steps it claims will make the UK the most accessible place in the world for disabled people to 'live, work and thriveThe UK government has announced details of its new Disability Action Plan which includes 32 steps it claims will make the UK the most accessible place in the world for disabled people to ‘live, work and thrive’. The publication of the Disability Action Plan is part of the government’s stated intention to improve the lives of millions of disabled people. This has included seeing 1.3 million more disabled people in work now than in 2017, which the government claims is delivering a commitment five years early. More →

60 percent of managers believe luck has played a part in career. Up to 40 percent don’t realise it

60 percent of managers believe luck has played a part in career. Up to 40 percent don’t realise it

Around 60 percent of managers believe that an element of luck has played a significant part in shaping their careers, according to new research by emlyon business school. Respondents stated that this luck typically came through a chance event, which could be positive or negative, but either way had a huge impact on their career. More →

Hefty fine for Amazon has implications for employee surveillance policy

Hefty fine for Amazon has implications for employee surveillance policy

Recent advancements in employee surveillance technology and the rise in remote working have led to employers now having both the ability and the excuse to look over employees’ shouldersThe French data protection watchdog CNIL has fined Amazon France Logistique €32m, equivalent to 3 percent of the entity’s annual turnover, approaching the maximum permitted level of 4 percent. Describing Amazon’s employee surveillance as “excessive”, the regulator also cited instances where the monitoring of staff was found to be outright illegal, by breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More →

Life at the coalface: How the agile workplace first appeared in the mid 20th Century

Life at the coalface: How the agile workplace first appeared in the mid 20th Century

agile working began in the coal fields of NottinghamshireThe idea of diffusion of innovation has become so embedded in our culture, and most recently so associated with the adoption of new technology, that we might assume it happens in predictable ways. The steps between innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards seem intuitive and certain even when their peaks might be unsure. And yet history teaches us that sometimes new ideas can take years or even decades to take hold, even when they are potentially world-changing and relevant for the era in which they were formulated. More →

Firms want to embrace AI, but bewildered by range of options

Firms want to embrace AI, but bewildered by range of options

The vast majority of Chief Information Officers plan to increase AI tool spending in 2024, but say their teams are overwhelmed by the number of apps on the marketThe vast majority of Chief Information Officers plan to increase AI tool spending in 2024, but say their teams are overwhelmed by the number of apps on the market. As a result, 77 percent are concerned about application sprawl adding to their complexity and security risks. That is according to a new report from Canva which includes insights from more than 1,360 CIOs on their priorities, opportunities and the challenges of managing their IT amid the AI boom. The company commissioned Harris Poll to survey CIOs from the UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Australia to understand how they’re managing application sprawl and making decisions about workplace tools in the AI era. More →