Search Results for: talent

December 9, 2016

New website launched to help promote the Northern Powerhouse economy ⁰

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Major companies including Barclays and Vodafone were among more than 40 leading businesses, universities and business networks which pledged their support and backed the promotion of the Northern Powerhouse economy during a ’partnership’ conference held in Liverpool yesterday (8 December 2016). The North has over one million businesses, seven international airports and four of the world’s top universities, the conference heard. Its economy was worth £304 billion in 2014, similar to the whole of Belgium, while last year employment growth in the North East was the fastest in the UK. To help support the initiative a new dedicated Northern Powerhouse website has been launched to share the latest news, views and opportunities for established businesses and new investors. In addition, a Northern Powerhouse Partnership Programme aims to encourage businesses to focus on the key strengths and areas of development across the North – from connectivity to transport, skills to science and from culture to devolution. More →

December 8, 2016

Book review…. HQ:Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Comment, Workplace design

Some people would have you believe that the office is dying out. But the absolute dead giveaway that it is not is the creation of tech enclaves and palaces around the world that exists solely to bring lots of people to work together in real space and real time. Some of these buildings are presented in a new book called HQ: Nerve Centres of the World’s Leading Brands from Irish publishers Roads (link is to Amazon but please try to order from a local bookshop if possible). The high tech homes of the likes of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Vodafone are presented alongside similar examples from eight other business sectors: Finance, Retail, Motoring, Media, Drinks, Fashion, Sport and Design & Innovation.

December 7, 2016

Are these the best places to work in 2017? ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

Recruitment site Glassdoor has announced the winners of its ninth annual Employees’ Choice Awards to find the best places to work in North America and parts of Europe. The Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback, by completing a company review, about their job, work environment and employer over the past year. This year, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards feature six categories, honouring the Best Places to Work across the UK, US (both large and small companies), Canada, France and Germany. There is one category in the UK: 50 Best Places to Work (honouring employers with 1,000 or more employees). Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. The top five UK Best Places to Work in 2017 are Expedia, ARM, HomeServeUK, Mott MacDonald and Hays plc

December 7, 2016

Business as usual for recruitment and retention in post-Brexit Britain … for now ⁰

by Oliver Watson • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Workplace

On 24 June 2016 Britain voted for Brexit. The shock (and narrow) victory caused country-wide concern among the 48 percent of the voting public that favoured remain – apprehension seemingly justified by the immediate weakening of the pound, Cameron’s resignation and the start of ongoing political in-fighting. Speculation over job losses and potential hiring freezes added to a general sense of uncertainty, leaving some UK workers fearing their job security. Since then however, recruitment experts have somewhat softened their predictions for the UK job market as recent reports of month-on-month vacancy growth and record high employment rates have served to inspire confidence. Five months on, how has job applicant sentiment changed in the UK since the EU referendum vote? And what does this mean for businesses hiring in post-Brexit vote Britain? As part of our ongoing tracking of candidate confidence levels in the job market and their career prospects we analysed the responses of almost 28,000 job applicants across the UK and Republic of Ireland – from all ages, experiences and sector disciplines – to gauge how perspectives might have changed pre- and post-Brexit.

December 6, 2016

UK government to move 5,700 civil servants from Whitehall to east London ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

The UK Cabinet Office has today announced the location of a new Government Hub at Canary Wharf, as the government prepares to move around 5,700 full time civil and public servants from offices in Whitehall to East London. The government will take the whole building, owned by Canary Wharf Group, at 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, covering 50,354 sqm, on a 15 year lease (to end in 2032). The move, which will be completed by the end of 2018, supports the modernisation of the Civil Service outlined by the new Workplace Plan on July 12. The Government Property Unit, (GPU), as part of its remit to drive savings across the government estate, is overseeing the deal with Barclays for the new hub. The Government claims the hubs will benefit the public sector by ensuring the future workforce is where it needs to be, in strategic locations with great public transport connections, local amenities and offering a modern working environment. Relocating civil and public servants from existing, often fragmented office locations, to modern, cross-departmental workplaces will make the most of emerging working practices and technology is part of that drive, it claims.

November 30, 2016

Public sector employees ‘stressed’ but remaining optimistic following Brexit ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Public Sector, Workplace

Levels of stress among public sector workers remain higher than any other sector, despite job satisfaction being at its highest level in four years amidst a tide of wider post-referendum optimism. This is according to the latest CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook report of more than 2,000 employees which found that 63 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs, rising to two-thirds (66 percent) in the public sector, the highest level for that sector since autumn 2012. However, public sector employees still report higher levels of pressure and exhaustion at work than any other sector. Two in five public sector workers (43 percent) say they are under excessive pressure at work at least once a week (all employees: 38 percent), and nearly half (46 percent) say they come home from work exhausted either always or often (all employees: 33 percent). The survey also suggests there is ample room for improvement in employee development and career progression which employers must address quickly so as not to lose valuable talent.

November 29, 2016

Majority of employers believe automation will create more jobs than it will replace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

A new report published by Capita Resourcing claims that 85 percent of employers believe workplace automation will create more jobs than it will replace in their organisation in 10 years’ time. The main benefits to businesses and employees over this period are likely to be enhanced productivity (76 percent) and new skills development (54 percent). The ‘Workplace More Human’ report surveyed the attitudes of 200 business leaders in medium to large organisations and 1,000 full or part time employees. It revealed that the workplace is currently undergoing rapid transformation with over half (54 percent) of employers already automating business processes that were once performed by people. A further 39 percent plan to automate more processes in the next 12 months.

November 28, 2016

Britain is missing a trick by not getting workplace training right ⁰

by Steve Hill • Comment, Workplace

New research from PwC highlights Britain’s failure to provide opportunities for young people. The study brings attention to the fact that the country ranks a lowly 21st out of 35 OECD members for its ability to get 15 to 24 year olds into work, education or training. If the UK could equal Germany’s low youth unemployment rate it would stand to gain around £45 billion, a 2.3 percent increase in GDP. The PwC report compares numerous countries, however Germany, Austria and Switzerland come out on top when it comes to providing career opportunities and workplace training to young people. Perhaps a clue to their success is that these nations all have so-called ‘dual education systems’ where work-based learning sits with equal stature alongside traditional academic study.

November 28, 2016

Surge in overall job vacancies, but consultancy sector bears Brexit brunt ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The number of advertised job vacancies in the UK increased by 2.6 percent to 1,162,342 in October, and according to the latest UK Job Market Report from Adzuna.co.uk, with Christmas on the horizon, employers will be seeking to hire an array of temporary jobseekers to meet a rise in demand. A rise in total advertised vacancies has also been fuelled by employers’ plans to expand and refresh their teams to capitalise on jobseekers intending to make a fresh start or change in career path in the first few months of 2017. However, despite the overall resilient nature of the jobs market, the consultancy sector appears to have taken the brunt of the implications of Brexit. As a result, average advertised salaries are currently down 8.7 percent. This suggests companies are withdrawing from placing as much reliance on temporary staff and freelancers and seeking expertise internally from senior employees who may be more familiar with the nature of the business. This also highlights the importance of employers widening their talent pool and attracting highly skilled workers.

November 24, 2016

Millennials prefer the traditional job model to the ‘gig economy’ ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Organisations that offer a range of perks, flexible hours and contract work to attract younger workers may be wasting their time, as it seems millennials prefer a more traditional approach to that of the gig economy. In a survey by the US-based Career Advisory Board of 500 respondents representing a diverse sample of American workers, 91 percent of the millennials surveyed reported they would like to work at a single full-time job rather than embrace the gig economy and 81 percent overall said they would prefer a single position that’s full-time. Of the 81 percent of respondents of all ages who’d prefer a single full-time position, an overwhelming number didn’t mind going into an office, but would like some location flexibility (59 percent). Most surprisingly, millennials were more likely to want to work in an office every day than their older colleagues. And as for special perks like onsite food, wellness perks and day-care, less than 1 percent of respondents preferred special company perks to the more crucial benefits such as medical/dental plans, paid time off and retirement benefits, which rated the most important offerings after competitive salary.

November 23, 2016

Gender earnings gap in tech sector is significantly higher than national average ⁰

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

The high tech sector may pride itself on offering some of the most attractive and modern workplace environments, but when it comes to equal parity between the sexes it seems out of date. New research from Mercer claims that at 25 percent, the gender earnings gap in the UK’s high tech sector is significantly higher than the national average (18 percent). The consultancy also found that small companies have the largest gap, with a 30 percent difference in (median) pay between all male and female employees, and a 26 percent gap when considering mean base salaries. This difference reduces as company sizes grow. Where the data allowed comparison of pay between women and men in equal job roles, the pay gap was much smaller, typically 8 percent. This is comparable to the UK norm of 9 percent for this type of analysis. The reasons for this gap is due on further analysis to a multitude of factors including the reluctance of many women to enter the tech field, not enough effort being put into promoting women and a lack of will in promoting flexible working patterns.

November 22, 2016

Employers and ambitious employees combine to boost a buoyant job market ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The job market continues to remain buoyant in the face of economic and political uncertainties, and this is matched by a noticeable enthusiasm among employees to move jobs, suggests new research. The Totaljobs Employment Index, which measures activity across the totaljobs website, has shown that job postings on the site were up 7 percent year-on-year (YoY) in October. But this demand seems to have been outstripped by jobseekers’ needs, with the number of applications on the website up 14 percent YoY. This means that despite an increase in vacancies, the number of applications per job has soared 7 percent. This trend continues when looking at the last three months (Aug-Oct) compared with the same period in 2015, as jobs rose 11 percent and applications increased 12 percent. Broken down across the UK, the best performing regions in terms of growth in jobs posted include the North West (up 17 percent), the East Midlands and Wales (both up 13 percent).