Search Results for: economy

Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The United Kingdom could reshape its economic future and unlock its share of £39.8 billion in untapped GDP if organisations were to ‘optimise their workplaces’, according to a new study by Ricoh and Oxford Economics, titled The Economy of People (registration required). The UK could achieve a 1.8 percent increase in GDP, equal to £36.8 billion, which could pay for the cost of Brexit twice with change to spare. Similarly, the Irish economy could expand by 1.0 percent, or £3 billion, if businesses commit to creating the optimal office. The findings from The Economy of People are based on forecasts of how productivity in various industries will improve, if investment in workplaces makes them optimal for those that work there and their employers. Surveys and interviews were conducted with employees and executives to uncover how workplace elements, such as culture, physical workspace and technology affect performance and productivity.

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Digital media overload as over half of workers unable to find information easily

Digital media overload as over half of workers unable to find information easily

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Over half of UK workers (57 percent), are regularly experiencing an inability to locate information easily across a range of digital media, including emails, apps, messages and the internet, a new survey claims. The survey conducted via YouGov, for Evernote, also revealed that 87 percent of digital workers use up to four devices such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, and/or a smart watch on a daily basis to access information. The majority (83 percent) of people use at least one app a day to source information. 31 percent of workers are accessing between five to nine apps per day and 18 percent are utilising over 10 apps a day. However, when it comes to face to face communications rather than digital, respondents were much more positive, with nearly half of those asked (45 percent) expressing that they felt they had the right number of meetings at work, and just 16 percent of those saying they feel their work day is filled with too many meetings.

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Global talent crunch will include UK workforce deficit of nearly 3 million employees by 2030

Global talent crunch will include UK workforce deficit of nearly 3 million employees by 2030

by • News, Workplace

A shortage of skilled employees will continue to impede growth and if not addressed, could have a significant impact on major global economies by 2030, claims a new study. Korn Ferry’s Global Talent Crunch study estimated the gap between future talent supply and demand in 20 major economies at three milestones: 2020, 2025 and 2030, and across three sectors: financial and business services; technology, media and telecommunications (TMT); and manufacturing and found that a talent deficit issue could threaten economies and sectors across Europe. Germany could experience the largest deficit of 4.9 million workers and could lose out on $629.89 billion of annual revenue by 2030 if labour shortages are not addressed – equivalent to 14 percent of its economy.

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No surprises in new report on future workplace trends

No surprises in new report on future workplace trends

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The latest Global Workplace Trends report from Sodexo focuses on the ‘workplace experience’ and how it affects levels of engagement, wellbeing and corporate performance. It’s an undemanding study that sets out seven trends covering familiar themes in a familiar way, even though the authors claim it offers ‘fresh insights’. As well as the idea of ‘experience’, it touches on ideas about the intersections of digital and physical space and the implications for people and organisations as well as the workplace professions. It uses the standard vocabulary, various buzzwords and the usual presuppositions to look at the impact of Millennials, AI, the sharing economy and so on. The visuals are the usual parade of smiling, diverse – but no unattractive, disabled and old – hipsters sharing screens and being creative in sun-dappled interiors. Sauce it with some virtue signals and it’s job done.

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Robots will lead to increased productivity without stealing jobs, but wages will fall

Robots will lead to increased productivity without stealing jobs, but wages will fall

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

AI will take time to lead to higher productivity but it may also depress wagesRobots will not as feared steal people’s jobs and will eventually improve productivity, but they will undercut workers’ contribution sufficiently to depress their wages. According to the third report in Barclays Impact Series, titled Robots at the gate: Humans and technology at work, technology is fundamentally re-shaping the nature of work, and the implications of this re-shaping process will accelerate in coming decades. The report authored by Barclays’ Research team and supported by the Barclays Social Innovation Facility sets today’s technological advancements in the context of historical precedent and argues that robotics and Artificial Intelligence do not portend a jobless future. However, these new technologies have important macroeconomic consequences, such as wage disinflation, which will likely continue in the years or even decades to come. The report also argues that productivity spurts lag behind technological leaps, as it can take years or even decades for an economy to figure out how to best use a new technology. Eventually, economies of scale are reached, consumer behaviour adapts, companies refine their business models and productivity growth finally kicks in. More →

Artificial intelligence should have a clear ethical dimension, claims new government report

Artificial intelligence should have a clear ethical dimension, claims new government report

by • AI, News, Technology

While the UK is in a strong position to be a world leader in the development of artificial intelligence which would deliver a major boost to the economy, ethics should be at the heart of its development, according to a new report from the House of Lords. AI should never be given the “autonomous power to hurt, destroy or deceive” people, it adds. The Lords’ report called on the government to support businesses in the field. It also recommended that people be educated to work alongside AI in the jobs of the future. It said that such education would “mitigate the negative effects” on jobs which are possible as AI develops.

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Brexit: CBI stresses importance of getting new rules right for UK construction

Brexit: CBI stresses importance of getting new rules right for UK construction

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

Brexit: CBI stresses importance of getting new rules right for construction

Brexit presents opportunities for rule changes in sectors such as agriculture, shipping and tourism that could ultimately benefit the British economy and consumers. This is according to a new CBI study, “Smooth Operations, compiled over a six-month period, which states that the opportunities for divergence are vastly outweighed by the costs of deviating from rules necessary to ensure smooth access to the EU market. Another important finding is that changes to rules in one sector have significant knock on effects for companies in other sectors and throughout supply chains. There are specific regulatory needs for the construction sector, according to the report, the first being regulatory convergence on rules for construction products and materials, vital to protect the competitiveness of manufacturers and avoid major barriers to trade. The CBI also argues that maintaining equivalence in procurement rules between the UK and EU is important, but there are still opportunities to improve how the UK procures work in the construction sector without diverging from EU rules.

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UK enjoys largest jump in productivity for a decade but challenges remain

UK enjoys largest jump in productivity for a decade but challenges remain

by • News, Workplace

Britain’s economy enjoyed uncharacteristically solid productivity growth in the last three months of 2017 to record its strongest six months in more than a decade, new official figures show. Economic output per hour worked rose by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 – above its long-run average though marginally less than estimated in February – and the third-quarter figure was revised up slightly to 1.0 percent. Together they show the strongest growth since the second half of 2005. British productivity has largely stagnated over the past decade and is commonly seen as a chronic challenge. Over the past 10 years Britain’s productivity growth has been the weakest since modern records began and appears to be the slowest since the early 1820s. Overall output per hour, a driver of living standards, is only 1.8 percent above the pre-financial crisis peak it reached at the end of 2007.

 

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Take up of shared parental leave is held back by cultural inertia

Take up of shared parental leave is held back by cultural inertia

by • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace

A recent report by the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Committee, Fathers and the workplace, has brought into sharp focus the problems fathers have juggling participation in family life with their employment obligations. We are moving away from the traditional gender stereotypes of the father being the breadwinner and the mother being responsible for childcare. Today, many families have two parents in either full or part-time work, with dual income households being far more common now than just 30 years ago. The pace of technological change and the growing gig economy have both contributed significantly to this shift in working patterns. As a result, some of the UK’s laws are becoming outdated, as many laws were formulated on the assumption that it would usually be the woman within a family who would have responsibility for childcare.

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Combination of factors means UK faces severe workforce crisis by 2025

Combination of factors means UK faces severe workforce crisis by 2025

by • News, Workplace

New projections published in Mercer’s Workforce Monitor predict that a perfect storm of falling net migration driven by Brexit and an ageing population, will lead to a severe shortage in the UK labour market. If these challenges are not met with immediate action by UK employers, they will face significant costs trying to attract workers with the leadership and skills they need to execute their business strategies. Mercer anticipates the UK workforce will increase by just 820,000, or 2.4 percent, by 2025, a significant reduction in recent trends that have seen 9 percent workforce growth in the 10 years to 2015. For the first time in half a century, the overall population will be increasing at a faster rate than the workforce, creating long term structural challenges for the economy.

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With a year to go, occupiers are less concerned than they were about the impact of Brexit

With a year to go, occupiers are less concerned than they were about the impact of Brexit

by • News, Property

Occupiers are less concerned about Brexit than they were a year ago, according to a new CBRE research survey of over 100 major occupiers across Europe, most of whom have pan-European or global operations. By late 2017, the proportion of European occupiers worried about Brexit having a ‘very significant’ impact on their operations in the UK had dropped from 15 percent to 6 percent compared with a year earlier. The proportion of occupiers worried about Brexit having a ‘significant’ effect has also fallen, from 38 percent to 33 percent, meaning that the number of occupiers worried about negative impacts from Brexit has fallen in total from 53 percent to 39 percent. A year to the day on which Britain aims to exit from the EU, global real estate advisor CBRE has published an updated guide unpicking some of the key real estate impacts of Brexit.

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Poor numeracy thought to account for an estimated £3.2 billion annual cost to businesses

Poor numeracy thought to account for an estimated £3.2 billion annual cost to businesses

by • News, Workplace

Poor numeracy thought to account for an estimated £3.2 billion annual cost to businessesAlmost one in two working age adults currently lack numeracy skills and this skills gap is estimated to cost businesses £3.2bn annually, with a cost to the UK economy of up to £20.2billion a year. This is why charity National Numeracy has joined together with founder supporter, KPMG, to establish the first ever UK National Numeracy Day – created to drive a change in recognition of the importance of numbers, as well as improve employee careers. The day, which takes place on the 16th May will be designed to celebrate numbers, and aims to help individuals to check their numeracy levels, and provide free tools to support improvement amongst those who could benefit. Businesses are being called on to get involved in a variety of ways; from becoming an official supporter, to encouraging employees, suppliers and the local community to check their numeracy levels using the free online numeracy assessment tool. 

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