Search Results for: jobs

Quarter of workers say job negatively affects their mental health and a third feel overworked

Quarter of workers say job negatively affects their mental health and a third feel overworked

Quarter of workers feel work negatively affects their mental health, finds CIPD report

One in four workers (25 percent) feel their job negatively affects their mental health, while nearly a third (30 percent) say their workload is too high, according to a brand new report from the CIPD, the UK Working Lives survey. Although the survey found that two-thirds of workers (64 percent) were satisfied with their job overall, one in ten (11 percent) report regularly feeling miserable at work. More than a quarter (28 percent) of senior leaders say that they find it difficult to fulfil personal commitments because of their job, while over a quarter (27 percent) say that their job does not offer good opportunities to develop their skills, jumping to two in five (43 percent) among unskilled and casual workers. Focusing on the three main groups in the labour market, those at the lower levels are far less likely to have access to skills and training, those in middle management feeling significantly squeezed by their workload and those at the top find it difficult to maintain a work/life balance.

More →

British employers are failing to prepare staff for automation

British employers are failing to prepare staff for automation

UK employees aren’t being equipped with the skills required by an automated workplace, according to a new study from ADP. The findings suggest that despite a third (32 percent) of workers believing their job will be automated within 10 years and one in ten (10 percent) predicting it will happen in two, half of those affected (49 percent) say their employer isn’t preparing to train or reskill them for the new world of work. ADP surveyed 1,300 UK working adults across the country as part of The Workforce View in Europe 2018, which gives a snapshot of employees’ views about their jobs, workplace and career plans. The report claims that thousands of workers are worried about the prospect of mass automation and how this will impact their own career prospects if they aren’t prepared with the right skills.

More →

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

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

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.

 

More →

Quarter of people are ready to welcome robots as our new overlords

Quarter of people are ready to welcome robots as our new overlords

Around a quarter of British people would happily replace MPs with robots, according to a study of 6,000 individuals from Reboot Digital Marketing and  Mindshare. The surveys asked people whether they would prefer machines or humans in eight different occupations and scenarios. It found that when making car comparisons with the intention to eventually purchase, a significant percentage of Brits would want robots (60 percent) aiding them instead of humans (40 percent). Thereafter, Brits would be most inclined to accept music and film recommendations from artificial intelligence at 49 percent – though 51 percent would still opt to do so from other people. Even though most respondents (75 percent) would still prefer humans to be MP’s, 25 percent would elect robots to be in this position of power.

More →

Nearly half of large organisations will adopt artificial intelligence in the workplace by 2019

Nearly half of large organisations will adopt artificial intelligence in the workplace by 2019

Chatbots and voice assistants powered by artificial intelligence are starting to gain traction in the workplace of large organisations, according to a report from tech firm Spiceworks. The report, based on a survey of 500 IT professionals in organisations across North America and Europe, found that within the next 12 months, 40 percent of large businesses – those with more than 500 employees – expect to implement one or more intelligent assistants or AI chatbots on company-owned devices, compared to 25 percent of mid-size companies and 27 percent of small businesses. The findings indicate that although adoption is on the rise, some organisations are holding back due to a lack of use cases in the workplace and privacy concerns.

More →

CIPD to co-chair Government’s flexible working task force

CIPD to co-chair Government’s flexible working task force

The CIPD has been invited to co-chair the UK Government’s new Flexible Working Task Force. The task force has been established by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices, bringing together policy-makers, employer groups, Unions and employee representative groups, research groups and professional bodies.  More →

Employers should not write off older female workers quite so readily

Employers should not write off older female workers quite so readily

An ageing population and changes to the default state pension age mean employers need to better prepare for the needs of older women in the workplace, according to a study by Anglia Ruskin University published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). With more and more women aged between 50 and 65 now employed, the research reviewed published literature to look into the experience of those workers and how their needs might change in the future.

More →

Local authorities and developers must work together to boost the quality of new developments, says Green Building Council

Local authorities and developers must work together to boost the quality of new developments, says Green Building Council

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched two new resources for developers and local authorities designed to help boost construction standards and improve ‘social value outcomes’.  The first resource is related to residential developments while the second is directly relevant to commercial property. The resource, Social Value in New Development, provides guidance for developers and local authorities to help deliver social value outcomes in new residential and commercial developments. The guidance looks at social value, its stakeholders, strategies for driving positive outcomes and measuring success, and the current barriers to delivery.

More →

Call for more internship opportunities to help employers close skills gap

Call for more internship opportunities to help employers close skills gap

Call for more internships opportunities to help employers close skills gapIt should come as little surprise that graduates who have undertaken an internship are more likely to have honed the skills businesses needs, one of the main findings of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) annual Development Survey, which launches today (28 March 2018) at the ISE Student Development Conference. The report found that 63 percent of employers believed graduates who had undertaken work experience had the required soft skills, yet less than half (48 percent) thought this of graduates in general. According to the report the five most common graduate skills gaps are; managing up (5 percent of employers believed graduates had this skill); dealing with conflict (12 percent); negotiating/influencing (17 percent); commercial awareness (23 percent and resilience (31 percent). This is why closing skills gaps is a priority for businesses with 74 percent of employers taking specific actions to tackle the issue in 2017. Changes to recruitment and on-the-job training were the most common actions and 16 percent of organisations improved their internship development programmes specifically to close skills gaps.

More →

Action is needed to protect commercial property driving growth of UK cities

Action is needed to protect commercial property driving growth of UK cities

A new report from the Centre for Cities think tank outlines the scale of urban transformation in big Northern and Midlands cities over recent decades and its dependence on the ready availability of commercial property. The report, City Space Race, shows that the number of people living and working in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham city centres has soared in comparison to other cities across the country but also warns that planning reforms are needed to enable these cities to provide both the commercial space and housing they need to continue to thrive. The report, sponsored by law firm DAC Beachcroft, examines the challenges British cities face in managing competing demands for residential and commercial space – especially in their city centres, where high skilled, high paying businesses increasingly choose to locate.

More →

There are at least some reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s tech sector post Brexit

There are at least some reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s tech sector post Brexit

Making detailed predictions about the economic consequences of Brexit has proved a mug’s game many time over the past couple of years. The most accurate summation of what is happening might be ‘mixed’. Most recently, a report from the CBI has highlighted the resilience of many sectors while bemoaning a lack of skills in the economy. Meanwhile former Commercial Secretary to the Treasury Lord O’Neill also recently conceded that the UK economy had been more robust than he had expected following the Brexit vote, which he attributed primarily to the thriving world economy. An argument almost immediately dismissed by the economist Ruth Lea writing for the LSE, who put forward a more nuanced and mixed explanation. The same picture of tempered resilience is also evident in specific sectors, and especially those that were seen as the most likely to feel the consequences of the Brexit vote, including London’s crucial tech sector.

More →

Working fathers are being let down by workplace policies, claims Government report

Working fathers are being let down by workplace policies, claims Government report

The Government’s Women and Equalities Committee has published its report on fathers in the workplace. Its main conclusion is that current policies supporting fathers in the workplace do not deliver what they promise, despite good intentions and this is particularly the case for less well-off fathers. It claims that the Government must reform workplace policies to ensure they meet the needs of the 21st century family and to better support working dads in caring for their children, say MPs. The report concludes that the right to request flexible working has not created the necessary cultural change and the Government itself admitted to the inquiry that its flagship shared parental leave scheme will not meet its objective for most fathers.

More →