Search Results for: older

June 27, 2016

Millennials not as keen on the gig economy as you might think, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The supposed confluence of two of the most currently talked about workplace phenomena may not be all it seems, according to a new report from PwC. It appears that Millennials may not be all that keen on the gig economy after all, and might prefer some of the things that previous generations enjoyed such as stability, security and an ability to plan their lives with at least some degree of certainty. They are realists however, and understand that the use of freelance work will continue to grow over the next few years. Indeed, the report suggests that it is older workers who – perhaps unsurprisingly – are more keen on freelance work. According to the study based on 1,385 respondents in the US, overall 41 percent of employees expect to be employed on a contract basis within the next year, even though over a third (39 percent) don’t like the income uncertainty, and over half (53 percent) expect to be fully self employed within the next five years.

June 24, 2016

Property and workplace experts have their say on the Brexit outcome ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Well, the results are in and the UK’s electorate has voted by a narrow margin for the country to leave the EU. There are likely to be other developments but whatever you make of the UK’s decision to vote to leave the EU – and I think it’s fair to say most independent people think it’s inexplicable – there’s no doubt that it will have a profound impact on the UK’s economy, relationship with the world, culture, working conditions and markets. What it will mean in practice won’t be apparent for months or years, of course, but that hasn’t stopped experts who work in the property, workplace, design, legal, HR and architecture sectors having their say on its potential implications. We’ll look at these specific issues in more detail going forward but for now, here’s a round-up of those we have so far, which we’ll keep updated throughout the day as the dust settles on what will prove to be a momentous decision for the UK, Europe and rest of the world.

June 21, 2016

Ageing workforce requires employers to better address skills gaps ⁰

by Sara Bean • Events, News, Workplace

The Government’s 2016 Working Futures report revealed that the total number of jobs in the UK is expected to rise by 1.8 million between 2014 and 2024, while the working age population (16-64) is expected to increase by half this amount. Now a policy event being held in London by the Westminster Employment Forum will draw attention to the growing challenge faced by business leaders as the UK workforce continues to age. According to figures from the CIPD, 9.4 million people in employment in the UK are over the age of 50, equivalent to over 30 per cent of the workforce. The Open University is advising that, with employees staying in work longer, business leaders need to ensure that workers have the right access to education and the skills to remain competitive and productive at all stages of their careers. Ageing Workforce in the UK, will explore what steps need to be taken in order to adapt to this demographic shift.

June 14, 2016

Home workers happier, able to balance responsibilities despite long hours ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

New research claims that home-based employees are choosing to work more hours than those who work in traditional offices. According to the study carried out by homeworking agency Sensée, despite opting to work more hours daily, home workers are generally happier because they’re empowered to choose the hours they work so they can still attend to family responsibilities. Three quarters of home workers (77 percent) stated that working from home enables them to achieve more, including caring for family members or friends and exercising more. Time and money saved on commuting – along with more control over their day – were cited among the top three benefits of working from home. The research also claims there is a desire to work from home among office-based employees. Three-fifths (81 percent) of office-based employees said they would take the opportunity to work from home either full time or part time to care for a family member or friend.

June 8, 2016

Cities must lead the way in cutting carbon emissions says IEA ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Environment, Facilities management, News, Technology

With urban areas accounting for up to two-thirds of the potential to reduce global carbon emissions, cities must take the lead in the transition to low-carbon energy, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its annual report. Offering long-term pathways that could limit the global temperature increase to no more than 2°C, in line with the goals set at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015, the report suggests that the most cost-effective approach involves deploying low-carbon options in cities, especially in emerging and developing economies. Because buildings provide useful space to self-generate the electricity they consume: by 2050, rooftop solar could technically meet one-third of electricity demand. Such buildings offer significant demand potential for the roll-out of the most efficient technologies, like energy-efficient windows and appliances. However, international collaboration is essential, claims the report.

June 6, 2016

Only a third of employers have policies to support working carers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

As baby boomers and Gen X age, more of the working population are responsible for the care of elderly relatives, with some being part of the ‘sandwich generation’, balancing work while caring for older family members and their own children. Yet according to a new survey published today by CIPD/Westfield Health just a third of employers (34 percent) have a formal, written policy or an informal, verbal policy in place to support working carers in their workplace . The report also finds that just 13 percent of organisations offer line manager training to support working carers, which is concerning given the key role line managers play in providing flexibility and support to people with caring responsibilities. With estimates suggesting that 3 in 5 people will end up caring for someone at some point in their lives, employers are being urged to put mechanisms in place to empower and support working carers, before they lose out on key talent; while those employers that do support working carers believe it’s made a positive difference to their culture.

June 1, 2016

Surprising number of people fear they will soon be replaced by a robot ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

A surprisingly large proportion of the British working population believes it could find its job taken by a robot within the next 10 to 50 years, according to a study from software firm Opentext. The survey of 2,000 people found that 42 percent of them overall believe their jobs will be automated within half a century and around a quarter feel it could happen within the next decade. A surprisingly large number – 7 percent- feel they could be ousted by a robot within the next two years. The results display a strong generational bias with19 per cent of 18-24 year olds claiming that they sometimes or frequently worry about this issue. The older generation on the other hand rarely, if ever, worries about robots taking its jobs with 73 per cent of 45-54 year olds saying that they never worry about being replaced by automation. Even so, 25 percent of those in this age group believe that robots might replace them over the course of the next decade.

May 24, 2016

A fifth of staff experience more stress at home than in the workplace ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Home may not be the haven we might assume, meaning that employers who encourage staff to work from home may actually be adding to their stress levels. Around a fifth of employees find their domestic lives more stressful than their working lives and many either don’t want to discuss it with managers or feel unable to, claims a new report from MetLife Employee Benefits. According to Building Resilience in the Workplace, 19 percent of employees overall are more stressed at home than at work, with slightly more female respondents to the study claiming to be stressed more by their home lives than the workplace. Around 21 percent of women say their home life is more stressful compared to 15 percent of men. The research claims that 67 percent of employees say domestic issues – including childcare, looking after elderly parents and financial pressures – are having an impact on their work performance.

May 20, 2016

Quarter of UK workers would choose home working over pay rise ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

We reported earlier this week that flexible working has gone mainstream, with over a third of organisations now offering some kind of flexible working arrangement. The question is whether these flexible workers are more productive, as some employers persist in perceiving a flexible working request as a means of ‘shirking from home.’ Now new research to mark National work from home day, shows that 48 percent of workers are happier when they can work from home and nearly a third (32 percent) of British workers ‘feel more productive’ when they do so. The study by the Institute of Inertia, a partnership between comparethemarket.com and the University of Sheffield, found that nearly a quarter (24 percent or 7.5 million) of British workers would rather work from home one day a week than receive a pay rise, while seven million admit they suffer from ‘procrastination or inertia issues’ when working in an office.

May 19, 2016

Where is the data for disability on boards – and do businesses care? ⁰

by Neil Barnfather • Comment, Legal news, Workplace

When it comes to diversity on boards, I would confidently say that disability comes in a poor fourth behind gender, age and ethnicity. It’s something I take a great interest in as a blind person, a senior executive who sits on boards and as a start-up champion. While acknowledging a limited perspective, over the years I have noted a lack of disabled representation at board level and when I joined the NonExecutiveDirectors.com recruitment platform, we had a conversation about this. The result was that the organisation and its partners decided to commission some research into the issue. The research involved the Office of National Statistics, EU Equality and Diversity Commission, Department of Business Innovation and Skills, leading academic experts in disability, in social policy and in work and employment, Trade Union Congress (TUC), business surveys, policy documents and more.

May 18, 2016

What the imminent arrival of driverless vehicles will mean for the way we work ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Technology

Game changing technology doesn’t come any more disruptive than driverless vehicles. The problem is that we may find the whole idea easy to dismiss based on our past experiences of this sort of thing. Autonomous vehicles carry the whiff of Tomorrow’s World about them, yet they are about to go mainstream far sooner than we might think and their advent will have a major impact on the way we work and live. Both Ford and BMW have announced they intend to have fully autonomous vehicles on the roads within five years. That doesn’t mean the test models that are already on the roads but commercially available vehicles; Volvo will have 100 customers in Sweden and the UK using the vehicles next year. Tesla claims its cars will be driverless in two years. And it’s not just car makers who are intent on grabbing a share of this new market but computer makers like Google and Apple as well as sharing economy pioneers like Uber.

May 16, 2016

Women (and men) don’t enjoy the full wellbeing benefits of flexible working ⁰

by Dr Daniel Wheatley • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

There has been significant expansion of flexible working arrangements (FWAs) in the last two decades, driven to some degree by the work-life balance agenda. However, in practice work-life balance and flexible working continue to be viewed as a ‘women’s issue’, as women more often reduce hours or work part-time. But recent research conducted by my own department suggests that women working flexibly are not experiencing the potential wellbeing benefits when compared to men. Flexible working arrangements include part-time, flexi-time, job share and homeworking. Part-time accounts for approximately 40 percent of female employment and is the most common FWA used by women. Term-time working is also used predominantly by women, reflecting the typical gender roles regarding caring for school-aged children. Meanwhile, flexi-time remains the most common arrangement used by men, at around 19 percent.