Search Results for: Working from home

iPosture generation warned to sit up straight or risk a lifetime of back pain

by • Facilities management, Legal news, News, Workplace

iPosture generation warned to sit up straight or risk a lifetime of back pain

Ask anyone under twenty, “what is a VDU?” and they’ll probably think you’re referring to a “social” disease. Yet, despite the fact that tablet technology is in the ascent, the workplace procedure that is still used to help safeguard office workers from developing back, neck or other muscular skeletal problems is the workstation audit, as recommended in the HSE’s Working with VDUs guidance. Most under 25s would prefer to slump comfortably over a BYOD anyway, and as a result of these less than ergonomic habits , a massive 84 per cent of 18-24 year olds have admitted to suffering some incidence of back pain in the last 12 months, according to new research. (more…)

Over half of UK and US workers still go into work when they are sick

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Over half of UK and US workers still go into work when they are sick Over half of UK and US workers still go into work when they’re sick, according to separate surveys from either side of the Atlantic. The US study by Kimberly-Clark Professional found that 59 per cent of people go to work even when they feel ill; with three in 10 saying it was because they were too important to the business operation. In the UK, new YouGov research on behalf of Westfield Health found that exactly the same percentage (59%) of workers turned up despite being unwell because of work commitments; 82 per cent of employees had worked over their contractual hours in the last 12 months and 64 per cent admitted to feeling stressed at work. (more…)

Two major new London fit-out contracts for ISG

by • Company news, Workplace design

Colegreave HouseMultinational fit-out and construction firm ISG has won a contract for the fit-out of clothing retailer Arcadia’s UK headquarters near Oxford Street in London and is believed to have won a £50 million contract to fit out the ‘Baby Shard’ at London Bridge for Rupert Murdoch’s News UK. The £32 million Arcadia project for the reinvention of Colegreave House, designed by Sheppard Robson, involves the fit-out of four storeys and 155,000 sq. ft. of the existing building. Staff at the firm responsible for High Street brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop and Burton will remain in situ for the duration of the phased project which includes the installation of glazed roofs over the atria at the heart of the building to provide new community areas for staff.

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Google is Generation Y’s choice as world’s most attractive employer

by • News, Workplace

Google is Generation Y's choice as world's most attractive employerCool offices, generous employee perks and of course being a successful global tech firm may seem the obvious reasons why Google is perceived as the world’s most attractive employer by Generation Y, according to a global poll. However, employer branding company Universum Global’s annual list of the 50 companies business and engineering students would choose as the best to work for, finds the most common characteristics young workers consider most important in a potential employer are pretty much the same applicants of all ages would cite. These are; market success, professional training and development opportunities, supportive leaders and job security. So maybe Millennials aren’t so easily swayed by nap pods after all. (more…)

The rehabilitation of the cubicle and other lessons from 100% Design

by • Comment, Events, Flexible working, Furniture, Products, Workplace design

UniteSE from KI

UniteSE from KI

As we’ve said before, acoustics has become the dominant theme at office design exhibitions over the past three or four years. That’s been true at shows in Milan, Cologne, Chicago and London and was certainly the case at this year’s 100% Design at Earl’s Court. A quick whizz around the office zone at this year’s event – which is a useful way of getting an impression before you stop to talk to people about the detail of what they’re doing – revealed that well over half of the exhibitors were showcasing products that addressed the issue of acoustics. And yet things have also moved on from recent events, not least in the rehabilitation of that most demonised of all office furniture pieces – the cubicle.

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National work-life week 2013 aims to promote better work-life balance

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

National work-life week 2013 to promote the importance of work-life balanceEncouraging a healthy work-life balance is one of the keystones of employee wellness programmes. Yet, while most employers would claim they continually address issues such as stress and overwork, the fact that 40 per cent of workplace absences in this country are stress-related tells a different story. According to a new survey by Adecco, a third (34%) of employers are even prepared to cancel someone’s holiday if there is too much work to do in the office. Such practices are being challenged by a week of events dedicated to the promotion of work-life balance. National Work-Life Week 2013 is organised by the charity Working Families and will include a conference ‘Smart Work, Agile Work, Flexible Work’ on Tuesday 24 September. (more…)

Service providers taking desperate measures to combat “loaded dice” procurement

by • Facilities management, Legal news, News

Loaded dice

Building rapport with a potential client is an important part of the procurement process, but how far do you go? According to new research, some service providers have resorted to desperate measures to bag new business, including hiring the client’s daughter; bringing in actors and equipment to make their organisation seem larger than it is and even helping the prospect write the Request for Proposal to ensure that it matched the services they could deliver. The reason, according to findings unveiled today by blur Group is that despite the majority of decision makers believing there are better service providers available than their existing network, the vast majority (89%) were still likely to approach their existing service providers when a new project arose. (more…)

New research sheds light on why executives persist in stressful work habits

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

New research sheds light on why executives persist with stressful work habits

There’s a fine line between enjoying the stimulation of a demanding job and feeling burnt out. Lloyds’ chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio made headline news in 2011 after being signed off sick with stress and exhaustion. As the recent suicides of two Swiss banking executives have shown, it’s often difficult for pressurised workaholics to admit the job has become too much. A recent US academic study provides some clues as to why senior executives persist in working to unhealthy levels; while research by serviced office provider Business Environment reveals how UK office workers are also prone to stressful work habits. One fifth (21%) take work home at least one to two times a week, and one in five employees (19.6%) have taken time off work due to stress. (more…)

100% Design: Holding a mirror up to the way we design and manage workplaces

by • Comment, Events, Facilities management, Furniture, Products, Workplace design

Hanging Room

Hanging Room at 100% Design

If art holds a mirror up to nature, shouldn’t the design of workplace products hold a mirror up to the way we work? By definition, the things with which we surround ourselves should tell us something about the way we see ourselves and what we do. It should be possible to infer from the design of the products suppliers offer to the market what is changing in the workplace. This isn’t always the case, of course, especially for those firms who see design not so much in terms of putting lipstick on a gorilla as telling you that what you’re looking at isn’t in fact a gorilla at all. It’s Scarlett Johansson.

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Research reveals UK’s shrinking workplace space standards and regional disparities

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, Knowledge, Property, Workplace design

Alice growingThe latest Occupier Density Study from the British Council for Offices reveals that London and the South East of England have some of the most spacious workplaces in the UK, in spite of the fact that London has the most expensive office space on Earth. The BCO research found that the South West has the highest density at 8.6 sq. m. per workstation while London (11.3 sq. m.) and the South East (12.7 sq. m.) have lower densities than all UK regions apart from Wales (11.4 sq. m.). Yet recent research from Cushman and Wakefield has identified London as the world’s most expensive city to rent office space and a report last week from BNP Paribas revealed the large disparities in total occupancy costs between London and the rest of the UK.

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UK employees not getting enough sleep due to workplace stress

by • News, Workplace

UK workers not sleeping on the job - but because of the jobThe death last month of an intern at a major City bank drew attention to the ridiculously long hours worked by those attempting to carve out a career within the banking sector. Now a new report has confirmed that workers within the banking profession have the least amount of sleep across the UK, coping on average with just five hours and 50 minutes every night. But the annual sleep and professions report conducted by Travelodge reveals that British workers are surviving on just six hours and 27 minutes sleep every night – one hour and thirty three minutes below the recommend sleep quota of eight hours of sleep per night. Three out of ten workers have reported that they get less sleep now in comparison to a year ago, whilst a fifth of employees regard sleep a luxury.  (more…)

Predicting the future of the office means looking at what is happening now

by • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace, Workplace design

display_img_01Futurology is notoriously a mug’s game. Especially when it comes to making predictions about technology. Just ask Ken Olson, the founder of DEC who in 1977 pronounced that ‘there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home’. Or Bill Gates himself who once claimed that Microsoft ‘will never make a 32 bit operating system’. Most recently Steve Ballmer, a billionaire executive said in 2007 ‘there’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share.’ But mone of these retrosepctively viewed dodgy predictions should make us blind to those that we know will certainly come true, especially those based on what we know is happening in the present.

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