November 24, 2020

Work really has become much harder during the pandemic

by Eva Selenko • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

The pandemic has seriously altered how we work. According to statistics published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in September 2020, US$35 trillion (£26 trillion) has been lost globally in labour income. There has also been an estimated loss of 17 percent of working hours worldwide since 2019, with young people and women being hit hardest. And many of those still in jobs are working under very different conditions. More →

November 20, 2020

Plan submitted for London`s first net-zero carbon commercial property

by Jayne Smith • Company news, Environment, Property, Workplace design

Climate change has accelerated the urgency to address the way people live and work. With the UK’s aim to become carbon neutral by 2050, CIT and Foster + Partners want to help realise this ambition sooner, submitting a planning application for London’s first ever net-zero carbon workplace and commercial hub at Colechurch House, on the banks of the Thames. More →

November 19, 2020

Rising job insecurity during pandemic linked to mental distress

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Employees facing increased job and financial insecurity at the onset of the pandemic suffered a wave of mental distress, according to research published by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). Rates of mental distress among employees were 60 percent higher in April than before the pandemic, and 50 percent higher in May, with significant increases both for employees who were furloughed and those who continued at work. More →

November 18, 2020

Generation BETA is the latest demographic grouping you need to acknowledge, claims report

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

GlobalWebIndex (GWI), together with LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, has launched “Work in BETA: The Rising B2B Decision Maker”. The new report sets out to examine the ‘changing behaviours and attitudes of “the BETAs” – the first cohort of digital natives (21 to 40 year-olds) to assume positions of seniority in business, at a time of dislocation’. More →

November 18, 2020

Flexible working boosts applications for senior positions from women

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

A new study by Zurich UK, claims employers who embrace the flexible working revolution post Covid-19 could boost applications for senior positions from women by 20 percent. The data, which is part of a wider study carried out by the government-backed Behavioural Insights Team, claims that applications from women for management roles surged by a fifth after it promoted its own flexible working hours. More →

November 16, 2020

Millions will struggle to access the Government’s new Lifetime Skills Guarantee

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working lives

New analysis published by the Work Foundation and Totaljobs claims that millions of low paid workers will struggle to access the Government’s new Lifetime Skills Guarantee (LSG) when it is launched next year amidst a growing jobs challenge. More →

November 16, 2020

Designing your employee financial wellness program

by Freddie Steele • Company news

For a lot of employers, the idea of an employee financial wellness program can be something of an afterthought. That is, beyond providing fair pay and a clear policy regarding taxation and benefits, it can seem unnecessary to take any other action regarding employee finances. What’s becoming more and more apparent, however, is that employers do need to take a more active approach toward implementing employee financial wellness programs. More →

November 12, 2020

New to working from home? Here is how you should set up

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The past year has been something of a game-changer in many ways and perhaps one of the most unexpected has been how people have had to embrace the idea of working from home. More →

November 12, 2020

Covid-19 crisis has created unique challenges for working single parents

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

New research published by Gingerbread and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) highlights unique challenges for working single parents including for those who will lose their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 Crisis. As the country experiences a second Lockdown, and with growing unemployment and continued childcare restrictions, it is vital that the government provide better support to single parents. More →

November 11, 2020

UK office design should look to Europe for inspiration

by Ollie Plastow • Comment, Workplace design

The word ‘office’, based on the Latin term officium, wasn’t originally used to describing a building, or a space: instead it was used primarily as a term for a position: a role that was occupied by a person. So it seems only right with this etymology to take inspiration from Europe. And when considering office design, use that inspiration to build workspaces that reflect the needs of the people working within them. More →

November 10, 2020

Workers lukewarm on both permanent remote work and the 9 to 5

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture, Working lives

The vast majority of UK office workers neither want to continue working remotely after Covid-19 restrictions lift nor make a full return to the 9 to 5. This is despite the fact that many admit that remote work has reduced their productivity. Those are the main claims of new research released by Locatee. Carried out by YouGov, the research claims to provide insight into UK office workers’ attitudes towards productivity, job security, and the prospect of further Covid-19 restrictions. More →

November 9, 2020

Working from home could energise some of our overlooked cities

by Michel Serafinelli • Cities, Comment, Flexible working

For years, we have been promised a work-from-home revolution, and it seems that the pandemic has finally brought it to pass. In April this year, at the height of the first wave of coronavirus, 47 percent of people in the UK were working from home, the vast majority of them doing so because of the pandemic. In a sense this is overdue: the work-from-home potential for UK employees is 32 percent; in France, Germany and Italy between 24 percent and 28 percent. More →