August 31, 2022

People reconsider working from home in response to rising energy costs

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Around two thirds of people who can work from home say their employers aren’t planning to provide financial support related to energy costs and almost a quarter of under 35s currently working from home say they would consider coming into the office more due to rising energy prices. These are the key findings of a YouGov poll from Emburse. A sample of 1,015 British employees were asked a range of questions covering hybrid working patterns and employer financial support in light of the cost of living crisis and increasing utility bills. More →

August 25, 2022

How to find top tech talent for your business

by Freddie Steele • Company news

Finding the right tech talent for your business is essential for its success. The right employees can help your business grow and reach new heights. When looking for tech talent, there are a few things to keep in mind. Keep reading to find out where to find the best tech talent for your business. More →

August 18, 2022

Hybrid working could be doomed by a failure to protect organisational culture

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report from Poly warns that hybrid working policies could be destined to fail if organisations do not protect company culture while facilitating “a return to office”. The report claims that getting employees back to the office is a challenge being fuelled by a reluctance to return, with employees citing concerns over work-life balance and productivity. This reluctance is exacerbated by rising bills and spiralling inflation, with the cost of living putting increased pressure on employee finances, causing them to potentially choose between traveling to work or spending that money elsewhere. More →

August 4, 2022

ESG: only a third of people think their workplace has a positive impact on society and the environment

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Wellbeing

According to a poll from YuLife and YouGov, just over a third (39 percent) of people think their place of work has some sort of positive impact on society and the planet. This is in spite of the many announcements from organisations about how ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) can boost employee engagement and help them stand out from their competitors. With many businesses having upped their ESG investment in recent years, the new YuLife-YouGov report claims to shed light on what UK working adults want and expect from their workplaces, equipping businesses with vital insights into how to focus their ESG programmes most effectively. More →

July 15, 2022

Ditch the compulsory fun and ping pong tables. What people really want from the office

by Neil Franklin • News

As companies try to attract employees back to the office, a new survey of 4,000 people claims to reveal that what employees really want are yoga studios, office gyms and designated quiet spaces where they can work in peace. The survey findings suggest that employees are less interested in fun and games during the work day and more hungry for perks that enhance their work-life satisfaction. More →

July 14, 2022

95 percent of organisations have experienced issues implementing hybrid working

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new poll from XpertHR claims that nearly all UK organisations (95 percent) have encountered challenges implementing hybrid working, with reluctance to return to the workplace the leading issue currently faced by employers. Of the 292 organisations XpertHR surveyed, almost all (95 percent) operate a hybrid model. For most (59 percent) organisations, staff generally spend between 2-3 days working from home each week, however, over a third (37 percent) of staff are unhappy with this split and would prefer to spend even less time in the office. More →

July 12, 2022

Working from home has more than doubled in the UK since 2019

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

The number of people working from home in the UK from October to December 2019 and January to March 2022 has increased by 108.8 percent, according to the latest employment data from the Office for National Statistics. Between the two periods, the number of home workers increased from 4.7 million to 9.9 million. The number of homeworkers increased by more than 50 percent in all UK regions. More →

June 30, 2022

The fifteen minute city will transform the way we think about workplaces

by Wybo Wijnbergen • Cities, Features, Flexible working, Property

For most of history, there have been a small number of immovable truisms that formed the nature of what work is, and how communities form around it. While individuals have long held some agency around the structure and pattern of their work, being present in a communal workplace has been a non-negotiable reality. This need to work from an office comes wed with parallel requirements to help facilitate it. Employees have been willing to strike a compromise between where they wish to live and where they want to work through commutes, with the financial and time cost and associated stress that comes along with it. More →

June 29, 2022

The perfect storm shouldn’t force us to jump aboard the wrong ship

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

For all the millions of words written and gabbed about work and its future over the past couple of years, one of the few things we can say with any certainty is that we still don’t know which parts of it all are short-term responses to events, and which are permanent long-term shifts.

June 23, 2022

BCO Conference challenges the office sector to up its game

by Jo Sutherland • Features, Property

Regarded as one of the property sector’s leading events, the BCO Annual Conference saw key players from all parts of the office industry flock to Manchester – the vibrant, modern cosmopolitan powerhouse that is celebrated around the world for being the UK’s most competitive, economically productive, liveable and vibrant region. In her keynote, Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said that the most demanding, challenging and important priority is climate change, closely followed by making a positive difference to the lives of the people who live and work in the city. More →

June 10, 2022

Young people should optimise the time they spend in the office

by Gemma Dale • Features, Flexible working

During the pandemic, around 100 million people in Europe switched to working from home – nearly half of them for the first time. This shift was rapid, with employees quickly noticing the benefits of remote work. These can include freedom from commuting, more time for personal wellbeing and increased productivity. As we move on from pandemic restrictions, we’ve seen a strong, global demand for more flexible forms of working, particularly to retain an element of remote work. While some employees want to work from home permanently, most want what’s coming to be regarded as the best of both worlds: hybrid working. Only a minority of workers now want to return to the office full time. More →

June 9, 2022

Cycling to work uptake held back by significant obstacles

by Neil Franklin • News

A new poll from Direct Line Cycling Insurance claims that commuters are being increasingly discouraged from cycling to work by a number of factors, and those who do ride in face a dilemma on where to store their bike. While an estimated £1 billion worth of bikes are used to commute every day across the UK, the research suggests that as many as 1.5 million cyclists are deterred by the lack of bike storage facilities at their workplace. More →