April 8, 2024
Recent guidelines issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) aim to simplify employers’ legal obligations to support workers going through menopause. A growing topic of conversation in the workplace and beyond, menopause has become increasingly recognised in employment guidance. More →
April 3, 2024
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is today launching an ambitious plan aimed at creating 150,000 high-quality, well-paid jobs by 2028. This initiative will be unveiled alongside the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Reeves will say that a Labour administration intends to reset the relationship between the national government and London, while Khan thinks what is good for London is good for the UK. More →
April 2, 2024
In a landmark agreement, the United States and the United Kingdom have pledged to collaborate on testing advanced artificial intelligence (AI). This is the first-ever bilateral deal of its kind focused on AI safety. This agreement builds on commitments made at the AI Safety Summit last year, where both countries established AI Safety Institutes. These institutes will work together to develop robust methods for evaluating the safety of AI tools and systems. More →
April 2, 2024
Since the pandemic, 69 percent of UK businesses have adopted a hybrid working model offering employees greater autonomy in their working lives. While this flexibility sounds ideal, it has unexpectedly created a work wellness issue, with employers reporting they have seen a 77 percent surge in mental health issues in 2023, vs 44 percent in 2022. In a recent survey by Statista, 21 percent of workers said that their biggest struggle with working from home was that they had no reason to leave it. More →
March 29, 2024
I was alerted by the great Jack Pringle during a presentation course he was giving to an unforgettable YouTube clip of Steve Jobs speaking to the local council as part of a planning application for his Apple Park in California, one of the great tech palaces that sprang up in the wake of the digital revolution. Jobs, in familiar black polo neck jumper and wire-rimmed spectacles, took the officials of Cupertino City Council on a journey of opportunity, awe and inspiration. More →
March 27, 2024
Following last year’s pilot, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe has launched a second edition of the PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC), the Young Leaders-led initiative to foster innovation in the built environment and is calling for game changing solutions that meet the challenge of how to substantially reduce carbon emissions. The challenge, which reflects ULI’s mission priorities, and the urgent decarbonisation focus of ULI C Change, is focused specifically on the reduction of Scope 3 emissions for managers and investors and encompasses the indirect but critical emissions that occur throughout the value chain, and which are often overlooked. Indirect emissions arise from activities such as transportation and procurement. More →
March 25, 2024
Korea will join the growing group of countries associated with Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme. Horizon Europe is the biggest EU research and innovation programme ever with a budget of €95.5 billion for the period 2021-27, complemented by the financial contributions from associated countries. It is open to the world, which means that participants from all over the world can participate in nearly all calls. Entities from associated countries have additional opportunities in collaborative projects and are treated on par with the entities of EU Member States regarding the access to funds. More →
March 25, 2024
The UK Space Agency is opening new headquarters in Harwell, Oxfordshire and regional offices in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands as it works to support the space sector across the UK. According to the government, the expansion will enable the Agency to collaborate more closely with the UK’s space sector, while promoting regional skills and job opportunities to deliver ‘increasingly ambitious missions and capabilities’. As set out in the Space Industrial Plan, the government says it is committed to continuing its support for space clusters across the UK and ‘providing the tools needed to drive collaboration between them and catalyse further investment’. More →
March 22, 2024
A survey of 900 leaders in HR, real estate, IT, and product roles at US based firms suggests that most employers have not adapted their working culture and practices to support the shift to flexible working. In addition, according to The 2024 Workplace Flexibility Trends Report from TechSmith Corporation in partnership with workplace research firm Global Workplace Analytics and Caryatid Workplace Consultancy three quarters of workers have yet to receive any training for the rise of flexible working arrangements. More →
March 20, 2024
The landscape of flexible working has witnessed unprecedented growth, spurred by the evolving needs of businesses in the aftermath of the pandemic. Despite the economic turbulence of 2023, the flexible office market has remained strong in the UK, achieving a record overall occupancy of 83 percent in the same year. As the demand for adaptable and collaborative working environments continues to rise, landlords and operators of flexible workspaces need to ensure that what they offer is meeting customer demands. Given the number of notable operator closures, many landlords are beginning to find themselves at the forefront of decisions about managing and revitalising failing operations. More →
March 14, 2024
A new poll of 4,000 knowledge workers in the UK, US, Germany and Australia suggests that digital communication tools are a constant source of strife in the workplace, especially between different generations of people. The poll from the Adapatavist Group, Mind the generational gap, was co-authored by Dr. Eliza Filby, a Historian of Generational Evolution. With half of companies now employing three or more generations, the report claims to reveal a pressing need for clear digital communication guidelines to support effective collaboration and workplace efficiency among diverse age groups. While highlighting areas of intergenerational friction, it also revealed large areas of mutual understanding and cooperation. More →
March 25, 2024
How to create a truly inclusive office design
by Alesya Karnaukhova • Comment, Workplace design