February 22, 2018
The UK needs a new approach to low pay, equality and flexible working
A new research paper from the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) claims to identify areas where employers and policymakers should act to reinvigorate their pay and rewards practices to improve employee engagement and productivity. According to the IES, with the likely intensification of current recruitment shortages, skills gaps and the fall in living standards as the UK leaves the European Union, the paper argues that both employers and policymakers should act on three key areas – low pay, gender pay and total rewards – to help halt the relative decline of the UK’s already below-par productivity performance.
In a workplace dominated by insecurity, gig work and intelligent machines we need to improve our understanding of their potential impact on health, safety and wellbeing claims a new report. 
A new report a new report by the Centre for Ageing Better has called for government and employers to support older workers to stay in work for longer, help those who have fallen out of work involuntarily to return and to create workplaces that work for all, irrespective of age. The report claims that ensuring older workers are able to stay in good quality employment is essential to the future of the UK economy and will relieve pressure on public finances. It makes some key recommendations that include access to flexible working hours and workplace adaptations to help people manage pressures such as caring responsibilities and health conditions, which become more prevalent with age. It also calls for equality of opportunities in the workplace as older workers in the UK experience age discrimination in recruitment and progression. They are less likely to be offered opportunities for development – across the whole of the OECD only Turkey and Slovenia have lower levels of on-the-job training for older workers than the UK. Research shows they are also the most likely to be stuck on low pay and feel most insecure about their jobs.
Demand for labour is likely to remain relatively strong in the near-term which is one of the main reasons why employers support a national approach to tackling the UK’s skill and labour shortages post-Brexit, in comparison with a regional or sectoral one. According to the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD and The Adecco Group the preference for a national labour or skills shortage occupation scheme reflects the main reason given by organisations for employing EU nationals, which is that they have difficulty finding local applicants to fill lower skilled roles, as cited by 18 percent of employers. The national survey of more than 2,000 employers found that the relative majority of employers (41 percent) would prefer a UK-wide immigration system that is based on national labour or skill shortage occupations in the likely event of migration restrictions once the UK leaves the European Union. In contrast, around one in ten (13 percent) favour a sector-based policy and just 5 percent would back a regional policy.
Demand for office space in Scotland’s three largest cities pushed overall take-up beyond 2m sq ft last year, aided by a solid final quarter of occupational deals in Aberdeen and Glasgow, and an all-time record year for Edinburgh. Scotland’s offices market in 2017 reach ed2.4 million sq ft, 14 percent above the 10 year average, according to the latest Scottish Office Spotlight from Savills. In Edinburgh (city centre and wider market) office take-up amounted to a record 1.1 million sq ft boosted by the ongoing growth of tech in the city. According to data from Stack Overflow, the Scottish capital saw a 19 percent increase in data scientists employed in the city centre over the course of 2017. Activity places further pressure on supply with only 220,000 sq ft of Grade A now available which Savills suggests will push top rents to £34 per sq ft in 2018. Keith Dobson, director in the business space agency team at Savills in Edinburgh, says: “The soon to be completed 40,000 sq ft office scheme at 2 Semple Street will ease pent up demand come Q2 2018, whilst The Mint Building and Capital Square will complete in 2019 and 2020 respectively.”
February 12, 2018
Luther, Marx, Engels and a nailed-on manifesto for workplace change
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
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