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New digital issue of Works magazine is available for you to read online. If you don’t get the print edition, you’re missing out

New digital issue of Works magazine is available for you to read online. If you don’t get the print edition, you’re missing out

The new issue of Works magazine is now available for you to read online free. 2026 promises to be yet another revolutionary year for work and workplaces and we'll be with you at every step along the waThe new issue of Works magazine is now available for you to read online free. 2026 promises to be yet another revolutionary year for work and workplaces and we’ll be with you at every step along the way. In this issue: you’ll find three case studies and a round up of projects highlighting new thinking and best practice in workplace design; we consider how Canary Wharf and other business districts are in rude health in spite of the obituaries we may have read about them in recent years; there’s commentary from Adam Scott, Su Lim and Stephanie Fitzgerald; we have reports from two round tables in London as well as a look back on Design Mumbai; the latest news on products, materials and events. Plus there are loads more features, including our podcast series with Shaw Contract exploring the different facets of comfort. (more…)

Employment Rights Act is already putting the brakes on hiring, CIPD warns

Employment Rights Act is already putting the brakes on hiring, CIPD warns

New research from the CIPD suggests the Government’s Employment Rights Act could discourage employers from recruiting permanent staff, add to business costs and increase workplace conflictNew research from the CIPD suggests the Government’s Employment Rights Act could discourage employers from recruiting permanent staff, add to business costs and increase workplace conflict. The findings come from the CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook, based on a survey of more than 2,000 UK employers. It reports that overall hiring intentions remain at their lowest level on record outside the first year of the pandemic. (more…)

AI adoption exposes generational divide in management, research finds

AI adoption exposes generational divide in management, research finds

KEDGE Business School has published new research suggesting that artificial intelligence (AI) is already reshaping management practice, but that a strong generational divide is emergingKEDGE Business School has published new research suggesting that artificial intelligence is already reshaping management practice, but that a strong generational divide is emerging in how leaders use the technology. The findings come from an OpinionWay survey carried out in October 2025 among managers, and point to younger leaders adopting AI at a significantly faster pace than their older counterparts. While AI tools such as ChatGPT are now widely used across the profession, the study suggests that managers under 40 are far more likely to integrate AI into day-to-day leadership decisions, while older managers remain more cautious and selective. (more…)

Senior leaders identified as highest AI risk in UK organisations, study claims

Senior leaders identified as highest AI risk in UK organisations, study claims

Senior leaders are emerging as the highest-risk users of artificial intelligence in UK organisations, according to new researchSenior leaders are emerging as the highest-risk users of artificial intelligence in UK organisations, according to new research which suggests AI-related business failures are being driven more by leadership behaviour than by technology or junior staff. (more…)

New white paper offers actions for managing trauma in the workplace

New white paper offers actions for managing trauma in the workplace

A new white paper offering practical guidance for employers on how to recognise, understand and respond to trauma in the workplace has been published by Nottingham Business SchoolA new white paper offering practical guidance for employers on how to recognise, understand and respond to trauma in the workplace has been published by Nottingham Business School (NBS), part of Nottingham Trent University. Recent national figures show that more than 8.5 million adults in England and Wales are survivors of childhood abuse, underlining the scale of trauma?related experiences within the UK workforce. Managing Trauma in the Workplace: Strategies for Wellbeing and Organisational Resilience brings together research, survivor perspectives, and evidence?based recommendations to help HR professionals and managers create psychologically safe working environments. (more…)

KI Achieves FISP (S) Certification, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable and circular practices

KI Achieves FISP (S) Certification, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable and circular practices

KI has reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to sustainability by achieving the enhanced FISP (S) certification, building on over a decade of continuous accreditation under the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP).KI has reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to sustainability by achieving the enhanced FISP (S) certification, building on over a decade of continuous accreditation under the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP). As the only independently certified sustainability standard created specifically for the furniture sector, FISP represents the industry’s most comprehensive benchmark for environmental, social and economic best practice. KI first became FISP-certified in 2013. Its progression to the advanced FISP (S) standard in late 2025 demonstrates the company’s ambition to lead the industry toward more circular, transparent and future?ready product development. (more…)

Intentional AI adoption is a leadership challenge, not just a technology problem

Intentional AI adoption is a leadership challenge, not just a technology problem

even in an AI-driven future, the real challenge remains deeply human—guiding teams with intention, empathy, and trust.A lot of conversations about AI jump straight to the end state. Leaders envision a future where the human workforce is focused on higher-order thinking and augmented with agentic capabilities across the enterprise, and where operational costs are much lower. While visionary thinking is not negative, we’re discovering that the transition from today’s version of the organization to a more automated state will require a massive transformation to achieve. Effective, sticky change requires active work and leadership to truly pivot processes, integrate technology, cultivate new skillsets, establish the cultural foundations, reformat the organizational structure, and ramp to new ways of working. Machines can’t steer that kind of change; humans still have to. (more…)

Workspace Design Show London unveils “Connected Realities” installations

Workspace Design Show London unveils “Connected Realities” installations

Workspace Design Show (25–26 February 2026, Business Design Centre, London) returns with a series of immersive installations that bring the show’s 2026 theme, Connected Realities, to lifeWorkspace Design Show (25–26 February 2026, Business Design Centre, London) returns with a series of immersive installations that bring the show’s 2026 theme, Connected Realities, to life. Designed by leading architecture and workplace design studios, these installations explore how physical environments, digital systems, material innovation and human experience are becoming increasingly interconnected in the modern workplace. Together, the installations form a journey across the show floor, inviting visitors to pause, interact, reflect and reimagine how workplaces are designed, experienced and sustained. (more…)

Faking positivity at work is causing leaders to burn out

Faking positivity at work is causing leaders to burn out

Being forced to fake their emotions in the workplace is causing leaders to burn out, according to new research by emlyon business school. The researchers say that this ‘surface acting’ creates a scientifically proven exhaustion loop that drains the very resources necessary to function well in interpersonal environments. As a result, cognitive capacity declines, authenticity erodes, and team trust suffers in ways that makes engaging in leadership more difficult in the future. (more…)

Artificial intelligence appears to cut more jobs than it creates

Artificial intelligence appears to cut more jobs than it creates

Artificial intelligence appears to be contributing to a net loss of jobs, according to a new analysis of how organisations are adopting the technology across their operations.Artificial intelligence appears to be contributing to a net loss of jobs, according to a new analysis of how organisations are adopting the technology across their operations. Research by Morgan Stanley, based on responses from nearly 1,000 companies that have been using AI for at least a year, suggests that British firms have shed more roles than they have created as a direct result of AI deployment. The study indicates a net reduction of around 8 percent of roles in the UK over the past twelve months, a higher figure than reported in comparable surveys of companies in the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia. (more…)

CEOs say they are struggling to profit from their company’s use of AI

CEOs say they are struggling to profit from their company’s use of AI

CEO confidence in their revenue prospects has fallen to its lowest level in five years, as business leaders struggle to turn investment in AI into consistent financial returns, according to PwCCEO confidence in their revenue prospects has fallen to its lowest level in five years, as business leaders struggle to turn investment in artificial intelligence (AI) into consistent financial returns, according to PwC. Findings from the consultancy’s 29th Global CEO Survey show that only 30 percent of CEOs are confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months. That compares with 38 percent in 2025 and 56 percent in 2022, suggesting a sharp cooling in optimism as organisations face a mix of economic uncertainty, geopolitical pressure and rapid technological change. The survey is based on responses from 4,454 CEOs across 95 countries and territories. (more…)

Surface Design Show 2026 champions the next generation of material innovators

Surface Design Show 2026 champions the next generation of material innovators

Surface Design Show 2026 reaffirms its commitment to nurturing emerging design talent, placing material innovation, sustainability and future-focused thinking firmly at the heart of the show. Through its ongoing partnerships with the Royal College of Art, the Green Grads initiative and for the first time the Emerging Talent category within the Surface Design Show Awards, the 2026 edition highlights a new generation of designers redefining what surface design can be. Across the exhibition, visitors will encounter projects that challenge extractive systems, transform waste streams and place human and environmental wellbeing at the centre of material design. (more…)