March 18, 2020

One million young workers set to leave London before turning 33

The number of young workers leaving London is on the rise, with net migration away from the capital growing, claims new research from Totaljobs and Professor of Economics at Lancaster University, Geraint Johnes. The new research, taken from analysis of ONS data as well as the views of 2,000 Londoners, suggests that since 2014, more than one million professionals have left London, with just 900,000 coming in. This is a net loss of 88 workers every day, with the biggest shortfall down to workers aged 25-34, the majority (54 percent) of them having given up hope of ever owning property in the capital. There has been a 49 percent increase in outbound migration of those in their 30s over the last five years. (more…)

March 16, 2020

Workplace transformation decisions shifting from HR to senior management

by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture

Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the thought leadership and research arm of Infosys, have published a global research report titled, ‘Drive Change from Within.’ The research claims that CEOs are now prioritising on driving a workplace transformation roadmap and contributing to its development in the organisation. (more…)

March 13, 2020

Commercial property energy use fell by over 3 percent last year

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

Operational energy consumption in the UK commercial property sector fell by 3.3 percent during 2018/19 compared to the previous year, according to the latest figures from the “in-use” benchmark published by the UK’s Better Building Partnership (BBP). The Real Estate Environmental Benchmark (REEB) compared operational energy performance between 2017/18 and 2018/19, based on 1,038 UK properties covering 11.7m sqm belonging to 31 of the partnership’s 34 member companies. (more…)

March 11, 2020

Flexible offices are not just an issue for the next generation

by John Williams • Comment, Flexible working

For as long as I have been in the industry, workspace has focused on the “next” generation whether that has been the overly-discussed millennials or Gen-Z. As it has grown, the market for flexible offices has inevitably followed the same path, but in doing so its providers could have taken their eyes off the ball by lacking focus on the most cash-rich and flexible generation of all – Generation X. (more…)

February 28, 2020

Exploring life at the new Siemens Campus in Zug

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Technology, Working culture, Workplace design

When it comes to creating an office to call home, all of the usual challenges are magnified by several degrees for a company like Siemens. It can’t afford to skimp on the building’s services, green credentials, integrated technology and all-round smartness then hold meaningful conversations on the same subjects with its clients. So, the new Siemens Campus in the Swiss town of Zug has to showcase the best the firm has to offer as well as delivering for the people who work there. (more…)

February 14, 2020

Watchdog raises concerns at councils` commercial property investments

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Some local authorities in England have invested significant public money in buying commercial property over the past three years with the aim of generating a financial return. Debt has increased for many of these authorities as a result, with a small group seeing significant increases in the amount they owe and the cost of repayment, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). (more…)

February 5, 2020

Businesses can fail if employees are over-confident

by Jackie Le Poidevin • Business, News

Senior employees being too confident about the value of their ideas could be one reason businesses are failing, according to research by the University of Cologne. The study, conducted by Professor Fabian Sting and a team of interdisciplinary co-authors, highlights how choosing the wrong ideas to pursue can lead businesses to make unwise investments and miss out on opportunities, which could threaten their survival. A large part of the problem, it says, is that the person who comes up with the idea overestimates how successful their innovation will be and views their skill or performance as better than it actually is. (more…)

February 4, 2020

Blundering blindly towards the truth about work and workplaces

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace

If you don’t like some of the stories we publish on Insight, you should see the ones we reject. It’s something I catch myself saying a lot and underlying it is an awareness that bullshit can be appealing. We should apply the smell test to stories and go in search of what might best be described as the facts, contradictions and nuances that are characteristic elements of some sort of truth. (more…)

January 24, 2020

Most executives lack skills to lead in digital economy

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News

Most executives around the world are out of touch with what it takes to lead effectively and for their businesses to stay competitive in the digital economy, a new study has claimed. Out of nearly 4,400 executives in over 120 countries surveyed by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and Cognizant, only 9 percent agreed that their organisation has the skills at the top to thrive in the digital economy. (more…)

January 23, 2020

Aligning talent with strategy is the key to business success

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Companies that align talent with business strategy outperform others by 16 percent, retain 30 percent more top performers, and see 34 percent higher employee performance according to The State of Talent Optimization Report (registration) from The Predictive Index. (more…)

January 22, 2020

Workers reveal their technology pet hates

by Jackie Le Poidevin • News, Technology

Data entry is the world’s most hated office technology task, with workers wasting about 40 percent of their day on this and other ‘digital admin’, a study has claimed. In a survey of 10,500 office workers spanning 11 countries, respondents said they average more than three hours a day on manual, repetitive computer tasks which aren’t part of their primary job and are ripe for human error. (more…)

January 20, 2020

UK based workers are amongst least likely to take sick days in Europe

by Jayne Smith • News

According to time and attendance data from 2019 compiled by Mitrefinch, 53 percent more sick days were taken in January in the UK compared to all other months of the year. However, the data also suggests that UK based workers took just 4.4 days leave for sickness last year, the fourth lowest in Europe. (more…)