Search Results for: Gen Z

August 21, 2017

American workers having to put up with difficult and hostile working environment, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The American workplace is physically and emotionally demanding, with workers frequently facing unstable work schedules, unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions, and an often hostile working environment, according to a new study. The findings come from research conducted by investigators at the RAND Corporation, Harvard Medical School and UCLA, and are from the American Working Conditions Survey, which claims to be one of the most in-depth surveys ever done to examine conditions in the American workplace. More than one-in-four American workers say they have too little time to do their job, with the complaint being most common among white-collar workers. In addition, workers say the intensity of work frequently spills over into their personal lives, with about one-half of people reporting that they perform some work in their free time in order to meet workplace demands.

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August 21, 2017

Office sector undergoing transformational structural disruption in response to changing supply and demand

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Amid varying economic performances and property fundamentals, North American and European office leasing markets are generally performing well as they undergo an important shift in dynamics influenced by trends transforming both occupier demand and the supply of new product. Traditional drivers of demand are being joined by emerging disruptors that will increasingly shape the future of the office-space market and commercial real estate as a whole. These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young’s Mid-Year 2017 North America and Europe Office Market Report. According to the report, of the 64 office markets tracked in North America and Europe, which comprise almost 6 billion square feet, market-wide vacancy rates decreased in 40 of the markets as nearly 52 million square feet was absorbed. Occupiers’ desire for new products remains strong and developers have responded, according to the report, with more than 62 million sq. ft. of office space was completed during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017.

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August 19, 2017

KI launches new Ruckus seating collection for active learning spaces

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Products

KI’s new Ruckus seating collection disrupts and redefines the boundaries of learning spaces. It’s not so much an evolution as a revolution. It looks like nothing else, it can be used like nothing else. This game-changing chair optimises student engagement, facilitates a wide range of teaching styles, and adapts to a variety of users and uses. Today’s educational environments are required to support ‘active learning’. Maker-centred and project based learning models are replacing linear, more traditional instructor-based lessons. Innovative curricula and pedagogies can only succeed if students are able to move freely and engage with their teachers, their materials and each other. Ruckus is a unique approach to facilitating this essential movement – it allows the user to rotate 360 degrees within the chair, rather than having to move the chair itself. Regardless of starting position, the user can quickly pivot and reorient themselves to where they need to direct their attention. This has been proven to enhance concentration, retention and engagement with materials, tools, instructors and fellow students.

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August 18, 2017

Board buy-in is key to closing employment gap for disabled people in workplace

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

There continues to be a significant gap between the employment rate of disabled people and the rest of the population; according to the Office for National Statistics, just 49 percent of disabled people of working age are in employment. This is why getting genuine buy-in from the top is key to improving levels of disability disclosure and helping to facilitate requests for workplace adjustments. That was the conclusion of a recent round table hosted by the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) which also found that while some HR and diversity specialists are sceptical about the level of support available from senior leadership teams, once the topic is brought to the attention of the board, the response is often overwhelmingly positive. Practical ways in which leaders can bolster disability initiatives shared at the event include; identifying disability champions within the business who can communicate their own stories, implementing unconscious bias training, instigating & reverse-mentoring initiatives where senior managers are partnered with disabled colleagues and leading by example by being open about their own disabilities.

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August 18, 2017

Almost a quarter of Millennials are unhappy in their current work situation

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A majority (85 percent) of 18-34 year olds feel they are not putting their professional ambitions into practice and almost a quarter are unhappy at work, claims a new survey of Millennials by one of the UK’s largest independent higher education institutions, GSM London. By 2020, millennials will make up 35 percent of the global workforce, but despite being the generation told that they can have it all, nearly a third (32 percent) of those surveyed described their work as a ‘means to an end’, with 64 percent describing themselves as having just a ‘job’ rather than a meaningful ‘career’. However, when it comes to pursuing a more meaningful career path, a quarter of respondents cited the pressure of uncertainty (25 percent), disruption to lifestyle (24 percent) and lack of confidence (22 percent) as the main barriers stopping them from fulfilling their goals.

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August 17, 2017

How workplace design shapes and reflects organisational hierarchies

by Angela Love • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

The roots of the open plan office can be traced back to the 1960s when post-capitalism was beginning to emerge as a political and intellectual movement. The social and political upheaval that followed World War Two and the emphasis on the autonomous, motivated and engaged worker combined to inspire designers and architects to develop a new and more “modern” way of working. A mode of work characterised by an increased emphasis on social relations and flattened hierarchies. The open plan office was heralded as the ‘office of the future’; a progressive, transformative and near utopian design concept which would enable its occupants to thrive and succeed in a more socialist world. Yet the proponents of the open plan do not appear to have been fulfilled in large corporate businesses in the UK. I’d like to suggest that this failure is not a design fault but rather a problem caused by a clash of ideologies. Upon closer inspection, it appears that these larger corporations have not fully been able to shift into the social-democratic model of collaborative, open working styles.

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August 17, 2017

Ethnic diversity in FTSE 100 leadership pipeline improves for first time in four years

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A new study from recruitment consultancy Green Park claims that the leadership pipeline, supplying the highest tier of management in FTSE 100 companies now includes the highest level of ethnic minority talent for four years. According to the study, progress is being made with ethnic minorities moving up the management funnel, though at five percent of those in the pipeline it still is not a fair representation of British society. While the pipeline is improving there remains a question over whether minorities can break through the glass ceiling, as the top roles in companies remain a closed shop for ethnic minority and female leaders. There has been a decrease of 18 percent in the number of ethnic minorities holding positions at Chair, CEO and CFO level in FTSE 100 companies. Almost six in 10 (58 percent) main boards in the FTSE100 currently have no ethnic minority presence. This is a slight improvement on the 62 companies that recorded all-white main boards in last year’s report. Yet it calls into question whether the target set in Sir John Parker’s consultation document that no FTSE board should remain mono-racial by 2020 will be met.

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August 15, 2017

Shake up of working culture and practices recommended to reduce pay gaps

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

All jobs should be advertised as available for flexible working, and greater support should be given to fathers to play more of a role in child care, in a shake-up of culture and working practices to reduce pay gaps, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said today. The call comes as the Commission’s strategy for tackling gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps is released. A strategy to reduce pay gaps in Britain makes six recommendations outlining the action needed by government, in society and in our businesses to improve equality in earnings for women, ethnic minorities and disabled people. According to the EHRC, offering all jobs as flexible will remove the barriers faced by women and disabled people, who are more likely to have to negotiate flexible working or accept part-time jobs that are often low-paid. Creating work places with flexible cultures will increase opportunities for everyone, giving people greater choice about the role they play both at work and home. (more…)

August 15, 2017

Millennials less likely to work remotely as they feel prohibited from working flexibly

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

There is growing sentiment among younger workers that flexible working is less a right – as outlined by the Government in 2014 – and more a ‘selective benefit’ for a choice group of employees. New research by Michael Page claims that two thirds (67 percent) of millennials believe employees with families are more encouraged to work flexibly than their single colleagues, and 6 in 10 (61 percent) feel the same flexible working privilege appears to apply more to senior co-workers, with junior team members more often discouraged from flexible working initiatives. Nearly half (43 percent) say it is a benefit reserved for management and senior leadership only. As a result, more than 8 in 10 (84 percent) office based millennial employees do not work from home in an average working week – with 82 percent of those saying they are not able or allowed to. This is despite the fact that three quarters (76 percent) of UK office workers confirm that their employer offers flexible working options.

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August 15, 2017

London Mayor launches strategy to make the city “one of the greenest on the planet”

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, News

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched a new environmental strategy which he claims will help make the capital the world’s first ‘National Park City and one of the greenest cities on Earth’. The strategy includes plans for a new £9million Greener City Fund to boost trees and green infrastructure; improved planning policy proposals to encourage more green roofs, green walls and rain gardens; the creation of a ‘Challenge Map’ to prioritise areas in need of green infrastructure; and a series of measures to tackle pollution, promote cleaner energy & make more than 50 per cent of London green by 2050. As part of the strategy, the Mayor will use planning regulations to protect the Green Belt and incorporate into new developments more ‘green roofs’ (roofs covered with grass and plants which are excellent for soaking up rainwater), green walls (which can be added to the outside walls of buildings by busy polluted roads and are covered in plants to help boost air quality), ‘rain gardens’ (small green spaces which help prevent flooding), and habitats for wildlife.

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August 15, 2017

Job vacancies are on the rise, but pay and productivity remains stagnant

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Workplace

UK employment is predicted to grow strongly in the third quarter of 2017, but wage growth is likely to remain weak, according to the latest CIPD/The Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook. Although the UK labour market remains buoyant, basic pay award expectations for the next 12 months remain at just 1 percent. Put against the backdrop of poor productivity growth, the report points to an increase in labour supply over the past year as a key factor behind the modest pay projection. This is driven by relatively sharp increases in the number of non-UK nationals from the EU, ex-welfare claimants and 50-64 year olds. This increase in labour supply may explain why the jobs market remains challenging for some jobseekers, especially those seeking lower-skilled jobs. Employers report a median number of 24 applicants for the last low-skilled vacancy they tried to fill, compared with 19 candidates for the last medium-skilled vacancy and eight applicants for the last high-skilled vacancy they were seeking to fill. Overall, employers felt that around half of applicants were suitable for each role they were trying to fill.

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August 14, 2017

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

by Mark Eltringham • 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.