November 24, 2021
Search Results for: economy
November 23, 2021
Wondering what to do about that office of yours? Hold the line.
by Louis Wustemann • Features, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design
At the end of April, New York magazine’s cover feature was headed ‘Remember the Office?’ The article reminisced about a world of cubicles and water-coolers, coffee points and staff parties. Its tone was elegiac, implying that it wasn’t just the enforced distance of 13 months of COVID-19 restrictions that lent enchantment to communal workspace, but the possibility that offices had gone for good.? More →
November 18, 2021
Time to stop playing around with the issue of workplace sustainability
by Joanna Knight • Environment, Facilities management, Features, JK, Workplace design
The so-called green agenda, sustainability and climate change have finally hit centre stage. Various announcements are being made by UK Government and numerous high profile figures are crying a call to action to implement carbon reduction plans now. Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, stated at the Annual Lord Mayor Gresham Lecture early in 2021: “Climate change is a bigger threat to the world than COVID-19.” He called on the financial and professional services sector to take urgent action to tackle climate change and ensure sustainability is at the heart of every financial decision. More →
November 16, 2021
Employers expect ‘hard-to-fill’ vacancies to increase in the next six months
by Jayne Smith • Business, Jobs, News
Almost half (47 percent) of employers report having vacancies that are hard-to-fill, and more than one in four (27 percent) expect the number of vacancies that are difficult to fill to increase in the next six months. This is a key finding of the latest quarterly CIPD Labour Market Outlook (LMO) which surveyed more than 1,000 employers across all sectors of the economy. Employers were surveyed about their hiring, pay and redundancy intentions for the last quarter of 2021 in September, just as the furlough scheme was ending. More →
November 15, 2021
Social mobility is restricted by lack of confidence and support in careers
by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace
A new report from Totaljobs and the Social Mobility Foundation claims that the social mobility of millions of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds is hampered by a lack of confidence in choice of career and lower levels of support from families and friends. Of those that started their first job in the last two years, only 50 percent from lower socioeconomic backgrounds said they were confident about eventually being able to do the job they want. This contrasts with the 71 percent of those from more privileged, professional backgrounds. This gap has widened since the pandemic. More →
November 12, 2021
More firms sign up to WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment
by Jayne Smith • Environment, News
WorldGBC has announced 44 businesses who have signed up to the market-leading whole life carbon requirements of the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment), pledging to take increased action to decarbonise the built environment across their portfolios and business activities, representing annual turnover of $85 billion. More →
November 12, 2021
Three in four IT departments face critical skills gaps
by Jayne Smith • News, Technology
Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL), has released its annual Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report, exploring the current state of skills gaps, training and development, compensation, and job satisfaction in the IT industry. More →
November 12, 2021
Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives
Hybrid working could save the NHS more than £4 billion per year by giving workers more time to look after themselves and their families, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). More →
November 3, 2021
Recruitment drive sees majority of firms embed flexible working policies
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
New research by Totum Partners, claims that the majority of firms now have hybrid working policies in place, as worker preferences and economy-wide recruitment pressures drive increased demand for flexible working. This includes 50 percent of firms which have implemented a company-wide policy, while the remaining 50 percent have published guidelines that can be interpreted by location or individual team. More →
November 1, 2021
Companies focusing on holistic organisational health outperform their peers
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture
The Josh Bersin Company have released a global study on the factors involved in creating a holistically “healthy” organisation. The research emphasizes the importance of transitioning from the traditional focus on employee benefits to one that encompasses job and work design, management, rewards practices, a demonstrated commitment to psychological safety and fairness, and a culture of employee health and listening. The research claims that a people-centric approach to all work is the foundation of every healthy organisation. More →
October 20, 2021
CMI calls on the Chancellor to invest in management and leadership or risk ‘levelling up’ failure
by Jayne Smith • Business, News
Ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review on 27th October, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is calling on the Government to commit to crucial investment in management and leadership as a central part of its ‘levelling up’ agenda. More →
October 29, 2021
An office reset was what we all needed, and wanted
by Richard Kauntze • Comment, Property, Workplace design
Pressing the ‘reset’ button is never easy. But I’m a firm believer that, once we do, we become much less averse than we perhaps expected to the change it inevitably brings. This is particularly true of the past eighteen months. From all of the sadness and hardship endured, we are beginning to emerge into a new, changed way of living. One that is both familiar and altogether different. The dichotomy is particularly evident in our workplaces. For many sections of the economy, the office was the ecosystem of our daily working lives. Initial questions of whether the office would survive quickly fell by the wayside, and a more interesting, nuanced, debate of what we want the office to be began. More →