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Over a third of workers have left a job because of the stress it caused them

Over a third of workers have left a job because of the stress it caused them

Over a third of workers have left a job because of the stress it caused them

New research released to mark International Stress Awareness Day tomorrow (Wednesday 1st November) has revealed that more than one third (36 percent) of the working population have left a job because of the stress it caused them, according to research conducted by Citation. It claims that  women are almost 10 percent more likely to leave because of stress than men, and those aged between 25 to 34-years old were most likely to struggle with workplace stress. Worryingly, more than half (53 percent) of employees feel too afraid to show signs of stress at work. More than a quarter (27 percent) think it’ll make them look weak, one in five (18 percent) worry it will affect their career and the remaining 7 percent feel uncomfortable approaching their manager with the problem. Those aged between 18 to 24-years old were most likely to fear for their career and worry about looking weak. Employees between 45 and 54 were notably more likely to feel at unease approaching their manager.

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Nearly a quarter of workers claim work is biggest barrier to being more physically active

Nearly a quarter of workers claim work is biggest barrier to being more physically active

Work is the biggest barrier to taking regular exercise a new survey suggests, with 20 percent of people citing being too busy with work as the reason why they are not more physically active. The research, which is published by not-for-profit health body ukactive to mark today’s National Fitness Day 2017 also reveals that only 1 in 10 adults (12 percent) know NHS recommended physical activity guidelines and well over half of Brits spend at least six hours each day sitting down. In addition to shunning exercise, more than 64 percent of adults spend at least six hours each day sitting, be it at work, in front of the TV, commuting or on social media. The average UK adult also spends more than twice as much time sitting on the toilet as they do exercising, with the study of 2,004 British adults by ComRes reveals that British adults say they are on the loo for an average of 3 hours and 9 minutes each week, compared to just 1 hour and 30 minutes spent doing moderate exercise such as fast walking or riding a bike.

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Majority of employers fail to support workers’ efforts to lead an active lifestyle

Majority of employers fail to support workers’ efforts to lead an active lifestyle

Majority of employers fail to support workers’ efforts to lead an active lifestyleThe majority of UK employees (61 percent) do not feel encouraged by their employer to lead an active lifestyle, despite most managers agreeing that exercise positively impacts employees’ productivity (78 percent) and their ability to handle stress (82 percent) claims new research from AXA PPP healthcare. Of those British employees who do exercise after work, nearly half (46 percent) would prefer to do so before work but 79 percent blame a lack of time in the morning; yet for those who find time to be physically active before work, three quarters (75 percent) feel it spurs them on to be more effective in the morning while 69 percent feel more productive. More worryingly, nearly half of employees (45 percent) of employees admit they do not do the NHS recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise, five times a week, but finding time to be physically active during the working day can be difficult, or undesirable. Sixty?two percent of employees with good intentions to exercise at work find they’re cancelling their lunchtime exercise plans due to workload or work commitments.

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Employers unable to meet growing demand for flexible working, claims study

A growing number of employees are frustrated in their attempts to adopt flexible working by the inability of employers to offer it, a new study claims. Based on the survey of 3,001 British employees, recruitment firm Timewise and consultancy EY claims that fewer than a tenth of jobs offering more than £20,000 per year pro rata are advertised with a flexible working option. This puts employers at a disadvantage because around two fifths of people claim they would prefer some form of flexible working, according to the report Flexible Working: A Talent Imperative.

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Large majority of British workers enjoy their jobs and are proud of what they do

Four in five British adults are proud of the work they do, while two thirds enjoy going to work most days, a new study suggests. The ComRes survey, conducted for the BBC, also claims that women are more likely than men to enjoy their work and public sector workers have more pride in their jobs than those in the private sector. It also found that workers in London claim to be happier in their jobs than people in the rest of the country, in spite of their most commonly cited gripes about commuting in the capital.

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People claim to be more productive outside the traditional office, claims report

People claim to be more productive outside the traditional office, claims report

According to FlexJobs’ 6th annual survey of more than 5,000 respondents interested in flexible working, 66 percent of workers think they would be more productive telecommuting than working in a traditional office environment. Fewer interruptions from colleagues (76 percent), fewer distractions (76 percent), reduced stress from commuting (70 percent), and minimal office politics (69 percent) are the top reasons people prefer their home office. Only 7 percent of workers say they are most productive in the office during regular hours. The study claims that respondents think they would not only become more productive if allowed to work remotely, but also that they would be more loyal to their employers and would have stronger working relationships.

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Seven ways in which flexible working is making our lives more rigid

Seven ways in which flexible working is making our lives more rigid

One of the main reasons why books such as Catch 22 and 1984 make such mediocre films, is because celluloid struggles to capture the books’ preoccupation with the ways in which language can be used to subvert meaning and rationality. We don’t always have to lean on the bookcase to see how this works. It’s been evident recently in the coverage of the massive growth of zero hours working worldwide, although they have now been banned in New Zealand. There are now up to 1.5 million people on zero hours contracts in the UK and the adjective most commonly associated with the practice in the media coverage has been ‘flexible’, despite the fact that from the perspective of the majority of the people working on such contracts they are anything but. It’s yet another example of the subversion in our use of the term flexible working. It’s Doublespeak; an expression which means something completely different to, or indeed the opposite of, the thing it is describing.

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Flexible working increasingly seen as top option, claims major new study

Flexible working increasingly seen as top option, claims major new study

A new report from ManpowerGroup Solutions claims that 40 percent of job candidates cite flexible working as one of their three most important career considerations. The firm polled 14,000 people in 19 countries. Among the countries surveyed, the US had the highest percentage of job candidates who want work flexibility (45 percent). A majority (63 percent) of workers said they believe they can work outside the office, and the number of men who want flexibility has significantly increased according to the study. The report, Work, for Me: Understanding Candidate Preferences for Flexibility, Manpower Group Solutions claims to offer ‘both the immediate steps and the long-term actions that companies can take to better meet their prospective employees’ preferences around flexibility’.

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Employers have a growing responsibility to provide staff with cycling facilities

Employers have a growing responsibility to provide staff with cycling facilities

This month, the British Council for Offices (BCO) launched a new report looking at the importance of offering better workplace facilities for cyclists in order to support the Government’s ambitious cycling growth targets. The Department for Transport’s £1.2bn cycling and walking investment strategy, published in April, aims to make cycling “the norm” by 2040. It plans to do this by improving cycling infrastructure and expanding cycle routes between city centres, local communities and key employment and retail sites, making improvements to 200 sections of roads for cyclists and providing funding for councils to invest in cycling schemes. In addition, city councils across the UK are making improvements to their cycling infrastructure. Last year, Sadiq Khan announced plans to spend £770m on cycling initiatives in London over the course of his term, in order to make riding a bike “the safe and obvious” transport choice for all Londoners. Birmingham City Council has pledged to invest more than £11m in creating two-way cycle paths, resurfacing canal towpaths, and even offering free bikes, with the aim of doubling the number of trips in the city made by bike from 5 percent to 10 percent by 2033, in order to make the city healthier, greener, safer and less congested.

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The provision of cycling facilities in offices is failing to meet a growing demand

The provision of cycling facilities in offices is failing to meet a growing demand

The quality of the cycling facilities being offered by many workplaces are currently falling short and risk undermining a Government drive to increase the number of people cycling to work; as according to new research published by the British Council for Offices, 16 percent of office workers claim that inadequate facilities are discouraging them from considering commuting by bike. In April, the Department for Transport stated an aim to double the number of cycling stages, defined as a change in the form of transport as part of a longer “trip” (e.g. cycling to the train station before catching a train to work), from 0.8 billion stages in 2013 to 1.6 billion in 2025. However, new research, commissioned by the British Council for Offices and carried out by Remit Consulting, finds that whilst 83 percent of workplaces in the UK offer some form of bike storage, less than half (47 percent) of this is covered and secure. Improved parking facilities could help increase numbers of those cycling to work, with 16 percent of office workers surveyed saying that better bike storage would encourage them to do so.

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Insight weekly: Putting the brakes on the robots + The problem with recycling + The workplace in art

Insight weekly: Putting the brakes on the robots + The problem with recycling + The workplace in art 0

In this week’s Newsletter; eminent scientists from the Royal Society and British Academy call for a new approach to deal with the challenges of automation; Michael Tyerman on why it’s no longer enough to use recycled materials; Mark Eltringham considers how artists have depicted the workplace over the centuries; Neil Usher describes the thinking behind the groundbreaking new offices for Sky; Ian Ellison in conversation with Ben Waber in the Workplace Matters podcast; the stellar growth of telecommuting in the US; how smartphones distract us even when they’re not even on; and much more. Download our Briefing, produced in partnership with Boss Design on the link between culture and workplace strategy and design; visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

We need to design for a multigenerational workforce

We need to design for a multigenerational workforce 0

Excitingly, the workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. However there’s more talk about millennials in the workplace than anyone else. In stark contrast to popular belief, the reality is that the British workforce is getting older on average which means that office design must now consider a new set of workplace requirements. The challenge for designers is to create inclusive environments that address the needs of highly skilled and experienced older workers, while still providing productive environments for all users, ensuring the entire multigenerational workforce is engaged, happy and productive. International bodies are already worried about the fiscal impact of an older workforce, in May the World Economic Forum (WEF) said that a looming fourfold rise in over-65s by 2050 is the financial equivalent of climate change. With people born today having a life expectancy of more than 100, WEF warned of more years in the office to provide financial security in later years, as well as a creeping retirement age heading towards 70. This ageing population and workforce will certainly need consideration when it comes to supporting their health and wellbeing.

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