Search Results for: Gen Z

Seven ways in which flexible working is making our lives more rigid

Seven ways in which flexible working is making our lives more rigid

by • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

One of the main reasons why books such as Catch 22 and 1984 make such mediocre films, is because celluloid struggles to capture the books’ preoccupation with the ways in which language can be used to subvert meaning and rationality. We don’t always have to lean on the bookcase to see how this works. It’s been evident recently in the coverage of the massive growth of zero hours working worldwide, although they have now been banned in New Zealand. There are now up to 1.5 million people on zero hours contracts in the UK and the adjective most commonly associated with the practice in the media coverage has been ‘flexible’, despite the fact that from the perspective of the majority of the people working on such contracts they are anything but. It’s yet another example of the subversion in our use of the term flexible working. It’s Doublespeak; an expression which means something completely different to, or indeed the opposite of, the thing it is describing.

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Mayor announces plans to boost digital connectivity across London

Mayor announces plans to boost digital connectivity across London

by • Cities, News, Technology

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a package of measures which he claims will boost digital connectivity across the capital and tackle London’s areas of poor connectivity – known as ‘not-spots’ – including the appointment of a troubleshooting ‘Not Spot Team’. Meanwhile, Transport for London is working to bring mobile connectivity to London Underground tunnels – one of the most high-profile not spots in the country. In spite of Brexit, London is still widely regarded as Europe’s leading technology hub, with a growing sector of over 40,000 digital technology businesses employing almost 200,000 people, as well as major bases of many leading global tech companies. But while the capital leads the way in tech growth, there are parts of the city where slow and unreliable broadband is a source of concern and frustration for businesses and residents alike, such as in Rotherhithe and parts of Westminster and the City of London.

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Large majority of facilities managers believe BIM will have a significant impact on their role

Large majority of facilities managers believe BIM will have a significant impact on their role

by • Facilities management, News, Technology

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the facilities management industry, according to the results of a new survey published by The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). The FM Awareness of Building Information Modelling survey, developed in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, aims to establish a benchmark of the current perceptions of the impact of BIM on the FM sector and the benefits and challenges it presents. The report’s key finidng is that eighty-three per cent of respondents believe BIM will help support the delivery of facilities management, with the same number indicating it is already having an impact, or will do so, in the next five years.

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Men more likely to experience work-related mental health problems

Men more likely to experience work-related mental health problems

by • News, Wellbeing

New research from mental health charity Mind claims that men are twice as likely to have mental health problems due to their job, compared to problems outside of work. One in three men (32 per cent) attribute poor mental health to their job, compared to one in seven men (14 per cent) who say it’s problems outside of work. Women, on the other hand, say that their job and problems outside of work are equal contributing factors; one in five women say that their job is the reason for their poor mental health, the same as those who say problems outside of work is to blame (19 per cent).

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Workplace menopause study claims women need more support from employers

Workplace menopause study claims women need more support from employers

by • Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new report from the UK Government and University of Leicester has called for menopause-friendly workplaces and culture change programmes. In what the authors claims is the most comprehensive study of its kind, the report claims that ‘many women tend to feel that they need to cope alone’ – because of ‘a reluctance to speak up at work’. The report ‘The effects of menopause transition on women’s economic participation in the UK’ was funded by the Government’s Equalities Office. The research, published by the Department for Education, was carried out by Joanna Brewis, Andrea Davies and Jesse Matheson of the University of Leicester School of Business and Vanessa Beck of the University of Bristol School of Economics, Finance and Management.

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Millennials email habits are at unhealthy levels, resulting in round the clock stress

Millennials email habits are at unhealthy levels, resulting in round the clock stress

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

Round the clock emailing by Millennials

Email overload amongst under-35s has reached unhealthy levels, a new survey claims, with 42 percent saying they would feel stressed if they were not able to access their emails, compared with a fifth (22 percent) of employees aged between 45-54 years old. According to new research from Bupa it’s now the norm for younger workers to constantly dip into work via email in the early morning and late evening. Although many businesses have taken steps to help ensure their employees have a good work-life balance, it is clear that the idea that the best way to progress is to be available around the clock persists amongst millennials. A fifth (22 percent) of millennials believe that they would be viewed as uncommitted to their job if they did not respond to emails outside of work hours. A third (33 percent) believe that their career progression could be impacted if they only respond to work emails in work time, compared with less than 10 percent of employees over 55 years old.

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One in five UK office workers admit they struggle with tech more than colleagues

One in five UK office workers admit they struggle with tech more than colleagues

by • Facilities management, News, Technology

The digitisation of the workplace may be seen as a boon to productivity, but that also depends on how well it’s being adopted by the workforce. A new survey claims that one in five (23 percent) UK office workers struggle with technology; and helping to solve the problems of these less tech-savvy employees takes up an average of 17 minutes of their colleague’s working day. The survey from memory and storage firm Crucial, found that work with an average of four colleagues in their office that are less tech-savvy than them. These colleagues always seem to encounter IT problems at work, distracting 62 percent of the UK workforce and costing businesses lost time fixing issues. Just over one in five (23 percent) British office workers admitted that they felt they were one of the less tech-savvy colleagues. A third of these aren’t worried about being less tech-savvy because they have other skills, another third (34 percent) admitted trying to fix tech problems themselves but always end up calling someone else, whilst 26 percent know someone will fix it for them anyway.

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The most successful business leaders adopt a courageous approach to technology and the future of work

The most successful business leaders adopt a courageous approach to technology and the future of work

by • News, Technology

Software consultancy ThoughtWorks has published a new report which claims that the best business leaders share a particular approach to the running of their organisations that the report characterises as ‘courage’. The Next Big Disruption: Courageous Executives claims to revealing what sets top business leaders apart from their competition. The report profiles a segment of leaders referred to as “Courageous Executives” in the US, the UK, Australia and India and the findings ‘underscore the critical role technology plays in business strategy, from navigating the chaos of digital transformation to how they’re setting their business up for future success.’ The report also claims to shed light on the leadership styles of Courageous Executives including their tolerance for risk and failure, their use of customer insights and the ways leaders in all four countries are preparing for the future of work.

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Whatever you might be told, this is not the Office of the Future

Whatever you might be told, this is not the Office of the Future

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

office of the futureIt seems like we don’t have to wait more than a few days at a time before some or other organisation is making its own prognoses about how we will be working in the future, especially at this time of year. The thing these reports about the office of the future all share in common, other than a standardised variant of a title and a common lexicon of agility, empowerment, collaboration and connectivity, is a narrow focus based on several of their key narratives and assumptions. While these are rarely false per se, and often offer some insights of variable worth, they also usually exhibit a desire to look at only one part of the elephant. The more serious reports invariably make excellent points and identify key trends, it has to be said. However, across them there are routine flaws in their thinking that can lead them to make narrow and sometimes incorrect assumptions and so draw similarly flawed conclusions. Here are just a few.

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Millennials are no more tech savvy and able to multitask than anybody else, claims review

Millennials are no more tech savvy and able to multitask than anybody else, claims review

by • News, Technology

Last year we reported on the fact that a large number of organisations still think they can solve all their tech and digital transformation issues merely by hiring one of the aliens we’ve come to call Millennials, based on little more than the idea they are ‘digital natives’. Since that time, a growing body of research and a little bit of thought has started to erode many of the stereotypes of this particular demographic. Turns out they’re just people like the rest of us and many of their ‘characteristics’ appear to be not that different to those of young people from other generations. The latest salvo fired at the stereotype comes from researchers Paul Kirschner and Pedro De Bruyckerec who claim the average Millennial is essentially a ‘yeti with a smartphone’ as they colourfully put it, just like everybody else. Millennials are not particularly good at multitasking either, according to the study.

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Being on a temporary or zero-hours contract is bad for your wellbeing, especially if you’re young

Being on a temporary or zero-hours contract is bad for your wellbeing, especially if you’re young

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Two major new studies claim to show the impact of temporary or insecure work on the wellbeing of people, especially younger workers. Research into the lives of 7,700 people from the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) suggests that young adults who are employed on zero-hours contracts are less likely to be in good health, and are at higher risk of poor mental health than workers with stable jobs. Meanwhile, an analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Business in the Community suggests that younger workers (born since 1982) in part-time and temporary work – or who are underemployed and/or overqualified – are more likely to experience poorer mental health and wellbeing, compared to younger workers in more permanent and secure work.

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Men and women report similar work life balance problems

Men and women report similar work life balance problems

by • News, Wellbeing

work life balanceContrary to commonly held perceptions and media narratives, women and men report similar levels of work-family conflicts, both in the form of work interfering with family and family interfering with work, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The study found men are less likely to complain about or address the issue however. Researchers spent several years examining the findings from more than 350 studies conducted over three decades that included more than 250,000 participants from across the world. The results were surprising, said lead researcher Kristen Shockley, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Georgia. The research was published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

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