Search Results for: risk

Half of self-employed workforce now over 50

Half of self-employed workforce now over 50

Over 50 and self-employedThe number of over 50s working for themselves made up 46 percent of the UKs entire self-employed workforce in the first three months of  2019, according to new research from jobs and volunteering board Rest Less. There are now 2.27 million over 50s who are self-employed – up from 1.45 million 10 years ago, an increase of 57 percent in a decade. The survey looked at data from the Office of National Statistics to highlight self-employment trends amongst the different demographic groups in the UK. More →

Employers admit company culture causes stress at work

Employers admit company culture causes stress at work

Illustration of man with stressEmployers admit they need to do more to increase workplace resilience despite increased awareness of the impact of mental health issues in the workplace, claims a report from MetLife UK. Research for the report Mental Health and Stress: Building Employee Resilience in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, claims nearly six out of ten employers admit they have to increase the focus on helping their staff to build resilience and 66 percent say organisational resilience has to be driven by the company’s leadership. But nearly a third of employers admit their company’s culture creates stress at work and employees questioned for the study say employers are not honest during recruitment about the demands on staff and the impact in stress. More →

One dishonest co-worker can disrupt an entire workplace

One dishonest co-worker can disrupt an entire workplace

The devil takes the hindmost - how the actions of a co-worker can disrupt a businessA vicious cycle can begin with one little white lie from a co-worker, diminishing the ability of other employees to read others and then even undermining the entire workplace or business, finds a new study from researchers at Michigan, Harvard, Virginia and Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Dishonest deeds diminish a person’s ability to read others’ emotions, or “interpersonal cognition,” the research found. In addition, the consequences can snowball. One dishonest act can set in motion even more dishonesty. More →

New government has unprecedented chance to transform buildings

New government has unprecedented chance to transform buildings

Deloiite London offices is an example of a new generation of buildings with a focus on the environment

The new UK government led by Boris Johnson has an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically shift policy on the built environment and deliver higher standards of safety, sustainability and social justice, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). It urged the new administration to back up rhetoric around climate change with robust legislation; to enshrine the recommendations of the Hackitt Review to improve fire safety in buildings; and tackle the scourge of late payment that is undermining thousands of SME and driving many into insolvency. More →

Remote workers engage in harmful behaviour to signal commitment to employers

Remote workers engage in harmful behaviour to signal commitment to employers

Remote workers engage in harmful activities to signal commitment to employersA new study, published in the journal Organizational Science and authored by researchers from the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) suggests that employees who are physically present in the office are seen as more committed, more productive, and harder working than colleagues who work away from the office. According to the study of two major blue chip organisations, perceptions of hard work and commitment translate to greater career opportunities including promotions that are not as readily available for remote workers. More →

Two million workers miss out on holiday entitlement

Two million workers miss out on holiday entitlement

Around seven percent of UK workers are not getting or taking their legal holiday entitlement, according to a new study from the TUC. The analysis estimates that nearly two million employees (1.960 million) are not getting the minimum paid leave entitlement they are due. And over a million (1.145 million) are not getting any paid leave at all. The analysis shows that women workers (8.3 percent) are worse affected than men (5.9 percent). In addition, the sectors with the highest numbers of staff losing out on their legal holiday paid entitlement are education (341,000), retail (302,000), and health and social care (264,000). More →

The Age of Blorp, a dead tulip, no muggles allowed and some other stuff

First the good news. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has rejected the proposals for Foster+Partners’ godawful 300 metre tall ‘Tulip’ viewing tower in London. The reasons given for the refusal from the Mayor’s office include the fact that the thing didn’t represent the sort of “world class architecture that would be required to justify its prominence”. A nicely dressed up way of saying it’s a terrible idea, a terrible piece of architecture and has absolutely no place in London. More →

Outdated technology remains a massive waste of time

Outdated technology remains a massive waste of time

Workers struggle with outdated technologyTwo new studies suggest that the failure to keep workers equipped with the latest technology is having a huge impact on their productivity and causing them to waste large amounts of time. According to the first piece of research from tech provider Insight,  UK office workers waste 1.8 billion working hours every year because the outdated technology they’re given isn’t good enough to meet their needs. More →

Govt scheme to retrain people in the age of automation

Govt scheme to retrain people in the age of automation

automationThe UK Government in partnership with the CBI and TUC has launched a new scheme to help workers whose jobs change or become obsolete because of advances in technology. Workers will be offered help in retraining or finding a new career amid suggestions that up to a third of jobs could be at risk of changing because of automation in the coming 10 to 20 years. The National Training Scheme will be trialled in Liverpool before being rolled out across England. The CBI and TUC are both backing the initiative as a way of boosting productivity, pay and workers’ skills. More →

Rise in employment led by self-employed and older workers

Rise in employment led by self-employed and older workers

employment figuresAs with the last few months, the latest UK employment figures look like a sea of tranquillity. The number of people in work is up ever so slightly (setting another record), unemployment down slightly again (ditto) and earnings continuing to grow. After a couple of months where there were hints that the labour market might be cooling down, today’s figures suggest that it is heating up once more. However beneath the surface, the numbers highlight some big changes in employment trends – with two things in particular standing out. More →

New BCO specification guide addresses “exponential times”

New BCO specification guide addresses “exponential times”

The British Council for Offices (BCO) has published its new Guide to Specification, which provides guidance on industry standards for workplaces across the UK. The Specification Guide, last published in 2014, sets out to help office developers address the key issues for the UK workforce in the coming decades, namely wellbeing, technology and sustainability. The authors claim that the new edition addresses the “exponential times” in which we now live, with sections focusing on wellbeing, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and sustainability. More →

Impostor syndrome may have serious impact on mental health

Impostor syndrome may have serious impact on mental health

According to a new study from researchers at the University of Houston, impostor syndrome can have serious consequences for mental wellbeing and can affect people’s personal relationships and home life. Those affected by impostor syndrome – the persistent feeling somebody has that they are not qualified or able to be in a work role – are more likely to  report problems in their home lives, experience burnout and to have conflict between work and family roles. Additionally, although work-life balance problems weren’t necessarily linked to lower job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion was. More →