May 20, 2021
Search Results for: change
May 19, 2021
Single parents in danger of being locked out of work and forced into poverty
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
A report published by single parent charity, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Employment Studies highlights how the world of work simply doesn’t work for single parents and warns things are set to get worse before they get better – putting even more single parent families at risk of poverty and creating a two-tier society, with single parents firmly at the bottom. More →
May 18, 2021
DV Signage teams up with Scale Space to launch high-end collaboration workspace for hybrid working
by Freddie Steele • Company news, Technology
The workspace innovator DV Signage has partnered with Scale Space, the UK’s community for scale-ups, to offer an exciting new Collaboration-as-a-Service workspace to be branded Interaction.Works. The Interaction.Works concept responds directly to the emerging hybrid working trend as companies begin shaping the Future of Work as the UK emerges from lockdown. More →
May 17, 2021
Long working hours increase deaths from heart disease and stroke, says WHO
by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing
Long working hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a 29 per cent increase since 2000, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization published in Environment International today. In what the authors claim is the first global analysis of the loss of life and health associated with working long hours, WHO and ILO estimate that, in 2016, 398 000 people died from stroke and 347,000 from heart disease as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week. Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease due to long hours increased by 42 percent, and from stroke by 19 percent. More →
May 17, 2021
Over a quarter of freelance businesses are back to pre-pandemic levels
by Jayne Smith • Business, News
New research from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) claims almost a quarter of freelancers (24 percent) report their businesses returning to pre-pandemic levels, while nearly a third (29 percent) predict the easing of restrictions will give an added boost to their businesses. A fifth (19 percent) said their businesses had been largely unaffected by the pandemic. More →
May 14, 2021
We need to acknowledge our bias if we want to see the world for what it is
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Working lives
We’re all biased. We all recognise the sharp bump of our critical thinking skills kicking into life when confronted with ideas and information that go against our beliefs. We know how they doze in the comforting embrace of affirming data. So, it’s been entertaining this week to observe the reaction to the large-scale academic study of 10,000 IT workers which found that they had worked 30 percent longer hours while working from home, a fifth of it outside their normal times of work, without actually doing any more work. In essence their productivity had fallen by 20 percent in spite of their increased hours. More →
May 14, 2021
Employee optimism dampened by pandemic, but majority of UK workers remain positive
by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture
Optimism among workers in the UK has been shaken in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, claims the ADP Research Institute’s People at Work 2021: A Global Workforce View. Nevertheless, two-thirds still have a positive outlook on the world of work for the next five years, mirroring the sentiment of people across the world. More →
May 13, 2021
The pivotal role of remote working in the journey to jab the nation
by Michael Whitmore • Comment, Flexible working
At 6.31 a.m. on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, the UK became the first country in the world to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Just over five months earlier, I had been deployed to the NHS England and NHS Improvement COVID-19 vaccination programme to help drive the highly complex design and planning needed to bring the nation to this point. My role involved leading the set up and embedding of the Estates, Equipment, Consumables and Logistics workstream. The purpose of this was to establish and combine the new and existing infrastructure required in England to manage the distribution, regulation and administration of multiple vaccines so that all systems would be ready to vaccinate on the ‘go-live’ date. More →
May 13, 2021
People working from home might now be subject to a visit from the Pensions Regulator
by Anne-Marie Winton and Danyal Enver • Features, Flexible working
The Pensions Regulator might now have the power under current UK pensions legislation, to enter the private homes of employees when it is investigating their employer, if those employees are working from home. The current law has been in force since 2005 and it allows the Regulator to enter some premises at any reasonable time. This power is restricted to use only in relation to some limited statutory investigations. However, though currently limited, these regulatory powers will soon be widened and extended by the Pensions Schemes Act 2021 which is due to come into force in Autumn 2021.
May 13, 2021
Secrets to stress relief and seeking work life balance
by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives
New research from Microsoft Surface claims that 64 percent of Brits agree that seeking greater balance in their lives has become even more vital through the pandemic and 63 percent are in favour of a three-day weekend to help them achieve a greater work life balance. More →
May 20, 2021
Is the time right for office furniture as a service?
by Joanna Knight • Comment, JK, Workplace design
The focus on creating a more sustainable workplace is increasing. Many designers, specifiers, manufacturers, suppliers and, of course, users are pledging their allegiance to the cause. Some are driven by a genuine recognition of the climate crisis whilst others are appreciating that commercially, it’s an essential direction. ‘Zero to landfill’ has been given ‘green bragging rights’ for some time. In reality, due to the significantly lower cost of incineration versus recycling, most material isn’t reclaimed, it is burnt. Whilst ‘energy from waste’ might alleviate some guilt, it is still contributing to pollution. More →