Search Results for: Gen Z

Two thirds of UK staff will work or check emails over Christmas

Two thirds of UK staff will work or check emails over Christmas 0

Christmas workingA common complaint over the Christmas period is that the vast majority of the population is off from Christmas Eve to after New Year’s Day. In fact a new survey shows that almost two thirds (66 percent) of people in the UK will be working during the festive period, almost 1 in 3 (31 percent) will be working on Christmas Day and 63 percent will check their emails over the period. Although 40 percent of those polled in the survey, which was carried out by retailer Cotton traders, do not have a choice about working over Christmas; of those that do, 46 percent are doing so to earn extra income to fund their Christmas and in the spirit of the season, 39 percent swapped shifts to allow colleagues with a young family to have the day off. Meanwhile, with a clear indication that the Christmas season has begun, advice has been issued by the TUC to staff and employers on how to avoid an embarrassing Christmas party.

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Ambitious commitments made by Green Building Councils at COP21

Ambitious commitments made by Green Building Councils at COP21 0

8 sustainable megatrendsA total of 25 Green Building Councils from around the world have unveiled commitments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that the building and construction industry plays its part in limiting global warming to 2 degrees. More than 1.25 billion square metres of buildings – almost double the size of Singapore – will be registered, renovated or certified as green building space over the next five years, under ambitious commitments made by Green Building Councils at COP21 in Paris. Green building is one of the most cost-effective solutions to climate change, which generates significant environmental, economic and societal benefits. A new alliance of 16 countries and over 60 organisations, known as the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (which includes WorldGBC, its 74 Green Building Councils and their 27,000 member companies) is now committed to help countries meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) through green building.

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Groundbreaking office sharing scheme rolled out to over 100 UK councils

Groundbreaking office sharing scheme rolled out to over 100 UK councils 0

Manchester_town_hallOne of the most intriguing and yet least talked about developments in the UK’s workplace design and management scene over the past couple of years has been the roll out of the One Public Sector Estate scheme, which encourages local authorities to share and divest parts of their vast, messy and under-utilised estate. The Cabinet Office, the central government department behind the scheme, claims that the current programme involving 32 local authorities will yield around £129 million in property sales and savings of £77 million in running costs over a period of five years. Now, more than 100 councils are set to join the scheme including several that are set to acquire greater autonomy through the Government’s plans for devolution. The new regions set to sign up to the programme include Greater Manchester, the City of Liverpool, West Midlands and Sheffield as part of 24 new ‘partnerships’.

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Dog-friendly offices more appealing to Millennials than play rooms

Dog-friendly offices more appealing to Millennials than play rooms 0

Dog in officeOnly a third of US workers believe that promotion offers the potential to advance their career with more than a third of all workers and 44 percent of Millennials preferring to jump ship if the right opportunity arises. Addison Group’s second annual generational workplace survey found that regardless of generation, healthcare benefits was most important benefit (70 percent), followed by a high salary (59 percent). However, Millennials would choose one company over another that paid a higher salary if free meals, beverages and snacks (40 percent) and tuition reimbursement (36 percent) were provided. Millennials also rank a dog-friendly office (14 percent) higher than a napping room, concierge services and a play room with ping pong, billiards and video games. They also value the social aspect of the workplace highly, with nearly twice as many (15 percent) marking work-sponsored happy hours as important compared to Baby Boomers (8 percent).

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Lack of talent will hold back any investment in infrastructure and building

Lack of talent will hold back any investment in infrastructure and building 0

talent shortageWhen faced with inconvenient facts, there is always a temptation to just ignore them. It’s a temptation to which the big thinkers of the political class readily succumb, especially when they’re selling an idea. So it was with George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, which maintained the Chancellor’s commitment to using public sector spending on infrastructure to boost the economy. This intriguingly Keynesian way of thinking seems pretty seamless, especially while the memory endures of what happens when you use credit to grow the economy. But it rests on the assumption that there is a limitless supply of the right people to build things in the first place. The flaws in this way of thinking are already becoming evident with HS2, a project that continues to drain talent away from the rail network’s already disastrous investment programme. A growing number of voices are raised to point them out on other issues too.

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BRE acquires rival green building scheme to create new accreditation

BRE acquires rival green building scheme to create new accreditation 0

Green building LeedsThose bewildered by the confusion of acronyms that surrounds building environmental standards will be pleased to hear that BRE has acquired a rival standard to merge with itsBREEAM accreditation. BRE claims that the acquisition of CEEQUAL, a sustainability scheme for civil engineering, allows it to ‘create a single, science based standard and certification tool for civil engineering and infrastructure projects’. As a result of the acquisition, CEEQUAL will transfer its operations to BRE Global after which CEEQUAL will then be delivered by the BREEAM certification team with support from a CEEQUAL management team. The move is supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers and has been prompted by ‘the industry’s desire for a single sustainability rating scheme that addresses the challenges that infrastructure clients, professions and contractors currently face in delivering more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.’

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Built environment crucial to attaining emissions targets say RICS of COP21

Built environment crucial to attaining emissions targets say RICS of COP21 0

Built environmentThe built environment has a vital role to play in helping governments meet their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions targets says RICS – ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties or COP21. This begins on Monday, when 196 governments meet in Paris for the climate change summit hosted by the United Nations. Buildings are some of the biggest emitters of CO2 accounting for one-third of global greenhouse gasses. Commercial and residential buildings also account for 40 percent of the world’s energy consumption. RICs is working with members in the land, real estate and construction sectors to find solutions across the property lifecycle to support more sustainable business practices, and will be in Paris to join stakeholders from governments, industry and civil society to support efforts to reach an agreement. The commitments made at the summit could have far-reaching repercussions for the built environment, and the global economy more generally.

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Megacities are leading the way on climate change, claims action group 0

Megacities 3.0 reportAhead of COP21 next week, a new report ‘Climate Action in Megacities 3.0’, published by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) and research partner Arup states that since COP15 cities have taken the lead in climate action by forging a collaborative pathway to low carbon and climate resilient development. Mayors have scaled-up action- with 51 percent of schemes now delivered city-wide, as opposed to 14 percent in 2011. Since the last major COP in Copenhagen, C40 cities have taken 10,000 climate actions – a doubling of actions in just six years – and have committed to reduce their CO2 emissions by 3 Gt CO2 by 2030, equivalent to the annual carbon output of India. Furthermore, decisions taken by global cities to invest in low carbon development over the next 15 years have the potential to avoid locking in a total of 45 Gt of CO2, or eight times the total current annual emissions of the United States.

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Northern Powerhouse office market showing strong performance levels

Northern Powerhouse office market showing strong performance levels 0

Manchester city centre

When the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announces the Spending Review today, he’s likely to mention the Northern Powerhouse, the programme to rebalance the UK economy by pushing growth in England’s northern cities. His vision of this form of one nation conservatism may have helped to increase occupier and investor confidence across the Northern Powerhouse office markets, as illustrated by the Northern Powerhouse Office Market Report 2015/16, published by Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH). It shows strong performance across the eight key markets so far in 2015 – with combined take-up expected to reach 5.2m sq ft by the end of the year compared with 4.6m sq ft in 2014. Manchester city centre is leading the way and is on track for a record year, with almost 1.4m sq ft of office space expected to be let or sold by the end of 2015 – well above the 10-year annual average of 966,000 sq ft.

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WeWork announces latest plans to dominate London’s commercial property scene

WeWork announces latest plans to dominate London’s commercial property scene 0

wework-moorgate-london-4Coworking giant WeWork has announced three new deals as it seeks to become the major player in London’s commercial property market. The firm, founded by Adam Neumann in New York in 2010, has made no secret of its plans for London as we reported earlier this year. The office space provider already has six London locations which it lets out to members (not tenants) who have access to the network of 57 locations in 17 countries on flexible terms via an app. According to a report published this week in Estates Gazette it is now set to add another 1 million sq. ft. to its portfolio in the capital with locations on City Road, Waterhouse Square and Docklands. The plans were announced to coincide with the launch of its largest London centre at Moor Square designed by Oktra. The company has also announced that it intends to launch its WeLive residential property concept in London in the near future following its successful launch in New York.

Many staff are planning to bunk off or shop online at work this Black Friday

Many staff are planning to bunk off or shop online at work this Black Friday 0

dawn-of-the-dead_1384615iWhatever you make of Black Friday, and we see it quite clearly as an alien intrusion that taps into the worst instincts of some people, there is no doubt that it has quickly captured the imaginations of pretty large parts of the UK population. Although only on these shores for a couple of years, its influence is such that the media has already begun what promises to be an annual hand-wringing over this coming Friday’s outpouring of consumerism. Meanwhile logistics companies are dusting off their mothballed depots to cope with demand and gum up the roads while retailers continue to ponder whether they want to associate themselves with the whole wretched exercise in the first place. It’s also a growing problem for employers as two new surveys show that a significant number of their employees are planning to spend at least some part of their day shopping online, throwing sickies or taking the day off work.

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Women earn less than men because they make different choices, report confirms

Women earn less than men because they make different choices, report confirms 0

Tilting at windmills-page-001In spite of its own attempts to link it to the gender pay gap a new report, Opportunities and outcomes in education and work: Gender effects, released yesterday by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), merely confirms that the key factors that determine how much people earn are the jobs they do and the hours they work. The report shows that male workers are paid on average 19 percent more than female workers. However, a report this year from the ONS confirmed that women now earn slightly more than men in like for like jobs up to the age of 35 and the UKCES report shows that it is career and personal choices that explain the gap in incomes across the whole economy. This confirms that the keys to closing the overall pay gap are for women to enter higher paying fields such as STEM and construction as well as employers offering flexible working arrangements and greater support for parents in their careers.

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