September 16, 2020
Search Results for: Gen Z
September 15, 2020
We are still overlooking the importance of air quality
by John Swift • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design
The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on commercial buildings was immediate – offices emptied overnight as people made the sudden shift to home working. Several months later, and although restrictions are being lifted, an unease about the possibility of localised lockdowns and an uncertainty about the potential health implications of being indoors with larger groups, means fewer people than expected are choosing to go back to office-based working. Something that might help reassure them that the office is a safe place is knowing that the air they’ll be breathing is clean. (more…)
September 14, 2020
Redundancies set to double the peak reached in the 2008 recession
by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives
New analysis of official data released to the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) claims that between May and July 2020, employers notified government of nearly 380,000 potential redundancies. This is more than double the peak reached in the Great Recession, when 180,000 staff were notified as being at risk between January and March 2009. (more…)
September 11, 2020
The next chapter for office life, remote work and the stories we tell about it all
by Mark Eltringham • Comment
One of the few interesting things about the deluge of tedious work-related stories over the last few months has been watching the narratives about remote work, office life and all the rest of it develop. Of course, you’ll still get the odd piece like this, a rambling, lazy string of unexamined clichés that could have been written by a bot. And soon will be. (more…)
September 11, 2020
Jobseekers still looking to work for organisations that share their values
by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives
Covid-19 has changed the profile of today’s jobseekers and as such, an organisation’s purpose is valued more than ever suggests new research from the recruitment agency Hays. Of the 13,500 surveyed, four in five (81 percent) professionals say working at an organisation that has a strong and positive purpose aligned to their motivations is important when considering a new role. Close to half (42 percent) say this has grown in importance since the outbreak of Covid-19. (more…)
September 11, 2020
The mental health consequences of COVID grow increasingly clear
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
The number of self-employed people saying they have “poor” or “very poor” mental health has increased from 6 percent to 26 percent since the beginning of the pandemic (a 300 percent rise), claims new research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed). The number saying they had “good” or “excellent” mental health has also dropped significantly since the beginning of the pandemic – from two-thirds (68 percent) to just over a third (39 percent). This was most severe among women (a drop of 54 percent) and young freelancers aged 16-34 (a drop of 49 percent). (more…)
September 8, 2020
Frontline and front of mind; communicating with employees away from HQ
by Julien Lesaicherre • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
It has been a rough year for business. Many organisations have had to evolve their operating models overnight, go to great lengths to keep their people safe and build entirely new ways of working to ensure they can stay afloat. A lot have had to fast forward five years into the future in a few months – and that’s no mean feat. (more…)
September 3, 2020
No, flexible working won`t mean the death of the office and the city
by Jane Parry • Features, Flexible working
When coronavirus lockdowns were introduced, the shift to flexible working and remote work was sudden and sweeping. Now the British government is hoping the return to the office will be just as swift – to help the economy “get back to normal”. But pushing everyone back to the office full time fails to recognise the many benefits that working from home has brought. It also fails to capitalise on this moment of change. (more…)
September 3, 2020
UK firms optimistic about COVID-19 recovery prospects
by Jayne Smith • Business, News
What impact is COVID-19 having on business confidence? And what recovery strategies are companies prioritising in response to the pandemic? Recruitment company Robert Half recently surveyed more than 1,500 executives to understand how they are responding to this ongoing period of unprecedented economic change. (more…)
September 2, 2020
Remote work and the coming race to the bottom
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives
One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a more stable rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. That’s fifteen percent of the workforce. (more…)
August 28, 2020
A new social contract can improve the everyday experience of work
by Mark Spratt • Comment, Workplace
It’s not happening quickly enough for some and too slowly for others, but most companies are in the midst of managing a return to work and grappling with a very different post COVID-19 world and what it means for employees. HR professionals are paying close attention to how well employees are faring and are looking to build new forms of employee care into company cultures and values. But maybe there is something more they can do to foster employee trust and safety? (more…)





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September 16, 2020
Get used to the idea of work as an experience rather than a place
by Tim Oldman • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design