September 18, 2020
For middle-market and small businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the vital importance of investing in new technology, facilitating remote work, and maintaining the tech-savvy workforce needed to make it all happen, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll for CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT). More →
September 17, 2020
As workers’ begin to populate office floors once more, employers must navigate a number of potential risks to ensure they are ‘COVID-19 secure’. As a result, the subject of ‘employee testing’ has made headlines, with the decision over whether employers can, or should, test their employees becoming an area of contention. More →
September 17, 2020
A new survey by UK job board Totaljobs, claims that despite increased appetite in the UK for remote working practices to continue into the future, the disconnection from the day-to-day social interactions of the workplace and the encroachment of work on our home lives has seen feelings of loneliness and isolation take hold, in a workforce already struggling to adapt to the challenge of the ‘new normal’. More →
September 17, 2020
New research by the CIPD claims the shift to home working over the pandemic has been a positive experience for most employers, who report people’s improved work-life balance (cited by 61 percent of employers), enhanced employee collaboration (43 percent) and improved focus (38 percent). Overall, 28 percent of employers report that the increase in home workers has boosted productivity, while 37 percent say it has not impacted productivity levels, with 28 percent of employers reporting a decrease. More →
September 16, 2020
September 15, 2020
Businesses are now encouraging employees back to working in the office. Should employers be using regular Covid-19 testing as part of their processes to reassure staff that doing so is safe? The government is advocating more regular testing and the use of mobile testing as a way to ensure that businesses stay open even if there is a local lockdown in the area where the business trades. More →
September 15, 2020
The impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on commercial buildings was immediate – offices emptied overnight as people made the sudden shift to home working. Several months later, and although restrictions are being lifted, an unease about the possibility of localised lockdowns and an uncertainty about the potential health implications of being indoors with larger groups, means fewer people than expected are choosing to go back to office-based working. Something that might help reassure them that the office is a safe place is knowing that the air they’ll be breathing is clean. More →
September 14, 2020
New analysis of official data released to the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) claims that between May and July 2020, employers notified government of nearly 380,000 potential redundancies. This is more than double the peak reached in the Great Recession, when 180,000 staff were notified as being at risk between January and March 2009. More →
September 11, 2020
One of the few interesting things about the deluge of tedious work-related stories over the last few months has been watching the narratives about remote work, office life and all the rest of it develop. Of course, you’ll still get the odd piece like this, a rambling, lazy string of unexamined clichés that could have been written by a bot. And soon will be. More →
September 11, 2020
The number of self-employed people saying they have “poor” or “very poor” mental health has increased from 6 percent to 26 percent since the beginning of the pandemic (a 300 percent rise), claims new research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed). The number saying they had “good” or “excellent” mental health has also dropped significantly since the beginning of the pandemic – from two-thirds (68 percent) to just over a third (39 percent). This was most severe among women (a drop of 54 percent) and young freelancers aged 16-34 (a drop of 49 percent). More →
September 9, 2020
A new report from Aon,examined the views of employers and employees across five major countries in Europe and claim that just 30 percent of employees are resilient while also suggesting that resilience can triple when employers adopt a well-rounded programme of support. Employees with poor resilience have 55 percent lower engagement at work and are 42 percent less likely to want to stay with their employer. In the UK, 29 percent of employees are resilient, and those with poor resilience have 59 percent lower engagement and are 43 percent less likely to want to stay with their employer. More →
A survey carried out by mental health organisation,
September 16, 2020
Get used to the idea of work as an experience rather than a place
by Tim Oldman • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design