June 22, 2021
Search Results for: change
June 22, 2021
Winning the war for talent in the post-pandemic world
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
The Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack Technologies, Inc., has released a new study that unpacks how 15 months of pandemic work has shifted employee expectations. (more…)
June 21, 2021
HR should play a more strategic role in business resilience
by Jeanette Wheeler • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace
Almost every organisation now knows it must become more resilient as the economy emerges from the pandemic. As well as coping with crises and global events, organisations must excel in the face of the many less high-profile disruptions that hit an organisation – from supply chain bottlenecks to shifts in demand and sudden skills shortages. HR departments have a major role to play in this but to do so successfully requires a change of mindset, taking a step back from traditional administrative functions and reviewing the entire business as if they were an outsider. (more…)
June 18, 2021
Is it time to ban out-of-hours emails?
by Freddie Steele • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing
The global pandemic has blurred the lines between home and work for millions of people around the world. Where once there was a clear distinction between being on and off duty, the demands of remote working and ever-presence of smartphones has created an ‘always on’ culture in many organisations. The trend has led to a number organisations in the UK to now call for a ban on out-of-hours emails in order to alleviate pressures on employees mental health. But is this really necessary, or even logistically possible, for the new world of work? We asked four leading experts for their thoughts. (more…)
June 18, 2021
Cities could be more important post-pandemic, not less, suggests report
by Neil Franklin • Cities, Flexible working, News
Paradoxically, more in-person work environments and the concentration of jobs in cities could be a medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic’s shift to remote working, suggests Citi GPS Technology at Work: The Coming of the Post-Production Society, a report produced by Citi and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. The report cites the automation of manufacturing and clerical tasks alongside the potential for professional services jobs that can be done remotely to be done cheaper overseas as the start of a foundational shift in developed economies. The future of work in these countries, it suggests, could be based largely on innovation, exploration and creative thinking which require face-to-face interaction and geographic proximity. (more…)
June 17, 2021
Suburban commercial property markets outperform City Centres for first time in a decade
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
Research from The Instant Group claims that suburban commercial property markets are outperforming City Centres for the first time in over ten years. The increased demand is largely being driven by those who no longer want to work from home, but don’t want to be back in larger cities. (more…)
June 17, 2021
Women struggling with almost twice as much fatigue and anxiety as men
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
As COVID-19 continues to limit our daily lives, forcing the Government to extend social restrictions into July, restrictions of a different kind are taking their toll on working women, and may be even longer-lasting, according to research from 87 percent. (more…)
June 17, 2021
UK working parents concern about future linked to final restrictions lifting
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
New research from Working Families claims nearly a third of working parents (29 percent) are concerned their caring responsibilities will make them more vulnerable to redundancy when furlough ends, after juggling work and childcare through the pandemic. (more…)
June 16, 2021
We need to rethink the role of technology in corporate wellbeing
by Brendan Street • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing
Employers nationwide are taking steps to improve employee wellbeing, reduce stress and improve mental health. For many, they are well-meaning, for example, banning work emails during certain hours of the day, encouraging employees to ‘switch off’. However, the risk with blanket policies like these is that they don’t work for everyone. A recent study from the University of Sussex even found banning out-of-hours emails can have a detrimental impact on employee wellbeing – restricting opportunities for truly flexible working and taking away a sense of control and autonomy. (more…)





The significant shift to homeworking as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed deep differences in job quality across the Scottish workforce, according to 


New polling in a 


More than half (52 percent) of global companies anticipate a return to the office in earnest by the end of Q3 2021, according to new research by 





June 22, 2021
The office sector needs to face up to its landfill issue
by Joanna Knight • Comment, Environment, JK, Workplace design