October 25, 2021
Lucid and Vitreous World, have launched the results of new research that surveyed individuals across the UK to analyse employee sentiment and the impact of flexible work as a direct result of the pandemic. (more…)
October 21, 2021
Millions of British workers face uncertainty as a snapshot of the nation’s work practices claims that one in five employees are unsure whether they’ll be expected to work remotely, onsite, or a mix of both in the future. Without having a clear decision from their employer, some employees are unsure about their organisations’ return-to-office plans. (more…)
October 15, 2021
Over a third (37 percent) of Brits say they have felt more stressed since the lifting of lockdown restrictions in July, and one in five (21 percent) still aren’t ready to get back to normal life – and that includes the office – claims a new study for World Mental Health Day. (more…)
October 14, 2021
Remote workers in Ireland will now enjoy increased tax relief on the cost of heating, electricity and broadband, following the government’s latest budget announcement. Those working from home will see income tax deductions of 30 percent of the cost of certain expenses, which the Minister for Finance claims will help to offset some of the expected increases in energy costs. (more…)
October 6, 2021
Poly has released a new report outlining the evolution of the workplace and changing employee attitudes to the 9-5. The Poly Evolution of the Workplace report provides analysis on the findings of a survey of 7,261 hybrid workers from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. It examines how attitudes and behaviours have evolved – looking at everything from working patterns and culture, to frustration and noise, right down to what we wear. (more…)
September 28, 2021
The rapid changes to our working lives caused by the global pandemic have prompted a great deal of debate about the future of work, the workplace and corporate real estate generally. At the highest levels of management within many organisations, leaders are now reflecting on their experiences and asking searching questions about their ways of working. (more…)
September 27, 2021
A new study of 61,000 Microsoft employees claims that the sudden shift to remote working had a profound effect on their work behaviours and output. Overall, remote workers spent less time in meetings, had fewer real time conversations and worked in more siloed ways. Crucially it found that there was a reduction in the strengths of ties between people and fewer networking opportunities. While not suggesting that office based work and remote work are necessarily better than the other, the study concludes that the drop in loose connections and chances of networking with other teams could have a negative impact on higher quality work outputs and working culture. (more…)
September 21, 2021
Predicting behaviours in the commercial property market is never an easy thing, yet we know that the pandemic has drastically altered this market. Whilst some players have advocated ‘the end is nigh’ for all office space, research shows a different picture emerging – namely the office space as we know it is evolving into something different. The impact of prolonged uncertainty has fuelled change. However, there are other forces at work shaping a brighter and more varied future for office space. (more…)
September 14, 2021
New ways of working will boost UK productivity and increase employment levels in cities outside of London, according to a new report from KPMG. And as businesses in some sectors prepare for employees to spend two to three days a week working from home on a permanent basis, demand for office space could see capacity potentially increase by as much as 40 percent, according to a new KPMG report, New working patterns and the transformation of UK business landscape.
The increased availability of office space in major business hubs is expected to attract businesses from smaller areas to fill up the vacant space, with cities like Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham set to see employment rise by 5-10 percent as a result. This will have a significant knock on effect for demand for office space.
Areas in central London are also expected to benefit, as well as smaller towns and cities with a large proportion of the workforce working partially from home. Meanwhile, less dense business areas could see a decline in employment and may need to be transformed into more residential, leisure, retail and other uses.
As the business landscape consolidates, KPMG analysis also claims the change could boost overall UK labour productivity by 0.5 percent, thanks to businesses being able to tap into a larger pool of workers, suppliers, and clients.
Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK, commented on the report: “As we emerge from the pandemic, businesses need to adapt to the new environment they will be facing. Some may choose to relocate to larger business hubs to boost profitability, while others in less central areas could see their local customer base profile change. While the overall impact on the UK economy is expected to be positive, the changes ahead could prove challenging for those businesses already saddled by the pandemic.”
The report examines how local high streets in residential towns and neighbourhoods are expected to reap the benefits of greater homeworking through increased demand by residents during the week. But the impact on high streets across the UK is unlikely to be uniform. Some places may be hit relatively hard by the loss of office workers due to their proximity to a larger business hub, which may be compounded by the loss of commuter footfall among remaining employees due to the prevalence of working from home.
Yael Selfin added: “As people spend more time working from home and less time in the office, we could see a revival of the local high street.
“They will need to transform into places of purpose to meet demand for community-based services, hospitality, culture, as well as retail. High street offering in smaller towns and cities may need to become more focused on residents’ needs and less focused on businesses and commuters.
“This transformation will require local government, residents and businesses to work together to map their future shape and make concrete plans to support and enable the necessary changes to make the most of the new post-Covid business reality.”
Chris Hearld, Head of Regions at KPMG UK, commented: “Over time, a shift in business location could support the rise of several major business hubs across the UK. An increase in the concentration of businesses and workers has the potential to make those businesses located there more productive and enable these areas to serve as the engines of economic growth. This should also support the Government’s Levelling Up agenda. Cities like Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and Newcastle stand to benefit from such a consolidation of business locations. For this to happen they will need government to work closely with local leaders to ensure the transition is smooth and any barriers to growth are quickly ironed out.”
September 1, 2021
August 27, 2021
Envoy has released the results from its latest Return to Work report that gauges sentiment among 1,000 US employees who have returned to the workplace within the past year. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, many companies are wrestling with the decision to postpone reopenings, even as scores of office workers are already back in the workplace. (more…)
A new study, commissioned by
October 22, 2021
Employee experience is more important than ever
by Lizzie Rolley • Comment, Wellbeing, Working culture, Workplace