October 15, 2020

The office has the potential to adapt to meet new needs

80 percent of us want to get back to the office, according to a new report from Dale Office Interiors, but only if they become more than just “places to work”. The research, which surveyed the opinions of UK employees and HR professionals, suggests a disconnect between what we believe offices should do, and the performance of our actual real-world offices – a problem HR heads feel is all the more stark now that we face a return to the office in a post-COVID world. More →

October 14, 2020

The world may be going mad, but we don`t have to

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Working culture

If you want to determine the nature of anything, entrust it to time: when the sea is stormy, you can see nothing clearly. Seneca’s advice from nearly 2,000 years ago still rings true. More →

October 14, 2020

Majority of U.S. employees fear returning to the workplace amid COVID-19

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Envoy has released results from its Protecting the Workplace study, which claims that 73 percent of U.S. employees fear a return to the workplace could pose a risk to their personal health and safety. While a majority of employees say they do want to return to the workplace once COVID restrictions are lifted, 75 percent said they would consider quitting their job if they felt their employers’ actions to prevent COVID-19 were inadequate or inappropriate. More →

October 12, 2020

Four in ten UK workers feel their mental health is worse than a year ago

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

A new study by independent job board, CV-Library claims four in 10 (42.9 percent) professionals feel their mental health is worse than it was a year ago. What’s more, female workers appear to be suffering more than their male counterparts (46.9 percent of women vs. 39.9 percent of men). More →

October 5, 2020

People not fully aware of remote work monitoring tech

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

The majority of people are not aware of the nature of new remote work monitoring technology, but do not like the idea of it. According to a new polling commissioned by the Prospect union, around two thirds of workers are uncomfortable with workplace tech like keystroke and camera monitoring and wearables being used when working remotely. More →

October 5, 2020

Coronavirus will lead to a permanent change in the way we work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Coronavirus will have a lasting impact on office use and levels of remote and flexible working, new figures from the Institute of Directors suggest. That is the unsurprising findings of a survey of close to a thousand company directors conducted in September. The poll claims nearly three quarters (74 percent) of respondents said their firms would maintain increased levels of remote and flexible after the pandemic ends. More →

October 2, 2020

What (nearly) everybody gets wrong about work and the coronavirus

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

You’ve probably read and heard dozens, or even hundreds, of different viewpoints about the effect of the pandemic on the world of work. Most of them (until recently perhaps) have dished up one of the two binary options as part of a zero-sum game. Many are based on hackneyed ideas and expressed as clichés. More →

October 2, 2020

Two thirds of people believe their work travel patterns have changed permanently

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Technology

Alphabet (GB) has published a new report examining how the pandemic has accelerated changes to travel and transport, altering consumer and business travel habits in UK cities. With mass migration to working from home, in March, road traffic travel dropped to levels not seen since 1955 and journeys on the London Underground fell by 95 percent. The report suggests that only six percent of those travelling to work by train feel comfortable, dropping to just four percent for tube users. More →

October 2, 2020

Post-COVID environment will drive demand for flexible office space

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Employees are proving keen to return to the office, reporting that they miss the human and social interaction that the office facilitates. At the same time, while employees show a strong affinity for the office, they also desire the ability to have the option to work from home 1-2 days per week on average according to a recent JLL global study of 3,000 workers. The trend towards workplace mobility was not created as a result of the pandemic, but it was certainly accelerated by it. As a result, agile work strategies are expected to increase in a post-pandemic world, reinvigorating demand for flexible space. More →

September 29, 2020

New support for employees experiencing domestic abuse

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

Following a surge in calls from individuals to domestic abuse helplines during lockdown, the CIPD and EHRC have published new guidance for employers, setting out how to recognise and support staff experiencing domestic abuse. A CIPD survey of UK employees claims that just under a quarter (24 percent) are aware of their employer having a policy or support in place on domestic abuse. More →

September 28, 2020

One way businesses can help employees get back to the office

by Freddie Steele • Company news

One of the many unprecedented things about 2020 is the way that the global COVID-19 pandemic has led to millions of workers around the world staying away from their office or workplace. Either through furlough schemes or temporary ‘working from home’ measures, many people across the job spectrum have had to adapt to a new way of doing things. More →

September 25, 2020

Furloughed employees feel less valued

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

A new survey published by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) claims that while 78 percent of those who experienced a change in workplace felt that they had experienced positive impacts, furloughed employees have had a significantly different experience. More →