June 2, 2020

Working life set to become more precarious and unequal

by Neil Franklin • News, Working culture, Working lives

The future of work is likely to be even more precarious and unequal, according to a new research review from academics at Durham University Business School, Kings College Business School and University Paris-Dauphine. Dr. Jeremy Aroles, Assistant Professor in Organisation Studies at Durham University Business School, alongside colleagues, Dr. Nathalie Mitev (King’s College) and Professor François?Xavier de Vaujany (University Paris-Dauphine), reviewed a wide range of research related to working life new work practices and summarised this into a number of predictions for the future of work. This research review paper was published in the journal ‘New Technology, Work and Employment’, which is open access throughout June. More →

May 27, 2020

Majority of HR professionals aware of value they add to their organisation

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace

Four in five (80 percent) of those who work in the domain of human resources in the UK and Ireland say that a role in HR and other parts of the ‘people profession’ offers them a meaningful career and almost three quarters (73 percent) believe they have the opportunity to add value to their organisation, the latest People Profession Survey from the CIPD and Workday claims. More →

May 27, 2020

Corporate wellbeing is too focused on sick workers

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Corporate wellbeing initiatives are often too focused on sick individuals, and firms should be addressing the root causes of physical and mental health by building healthy organisations instead. That is the main claim of a new report from the Corporate Research Forum (CRF) report, supported by Lane 4 and Mercer. The report is based on interviews with 150 HR leaders from FTSE 100 and similar sized businesses. More →

May 19, 2020

Global carbon dioxide emissions fall dramatically because of lockdown

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Carbon dioxide emissions have declined rapidly during the Covid-19 lockdown according to a new global academic study, but experts are warning that the reductions may be short-lived as normal economic activity resumes. The findings appeared today in the journal Nature Climate Change. The international study of carbon emissions found that daily emissions declined by around 17 percent between January and early April, compared to the previous year and could decline anywhere between 4.4 percent and 8 percent for the whole of 2020, the largest annual drop since the Second World War. More →

May 18, 2020

Majority of UK businesses now automating key processes

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Technology

The UK is making great strides in adopting process automation technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and process mining, according to new research from digital intelligence company ABBYY. The research report, The State of Process Mining and RPA (registration), claims that 64 percent of UK businesses are already using process mining technologies, with almost 3 in 10 (28 percent) currently using RPA and a further 34 percent intending to start in the next year. This comes as no surprise, since a vast majority believe that process mining (91 percent) and RPA (87 percent) are, or would be, useful to their business. More →

May 14, 2020

Promotion: Where can you find talented freelancers that share your passion?

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The number of people freelancing around the world is expected to increase significantly from the current estimated 150 million to over 520 million in the next five years. The freelance industry is expected to contribute about US$2.7 trillion by 2025 as more and more businesses and entrepreneurs increasingly rely on online outsourcing to get their work done efficiently. More →

May 13, 2020

Pandemic threatens the transition to clean energy

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

The coronavirus pandemic risks cancelling out recent progress in transitioning to clean energy, with unprecedented falls in demand, price volatility and pressure to quickly mitigate socioeconomic costs placing the near-term trajectory of the transition in doubt. Policies, roadmaps and governance frameworks for energy transition at national, regional, and global levels need to be more robust and resilient against external shocks, according to the latest edition of World Economic Forum’s Fos tering Effective Energy Transition 2020 report published today. More →

May 12, 2020

Business needs to do more to address lockdown mental health issues

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

Employers must do more to support the mental health of their staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, as new research suggests up to 23 million people in the UK could be struggling with poor mental wellbeing as a result of the current situation. The research, carried out by not-for-profit healthcare provider Benenden Health, claims that 35 percent of people are thought to be struggling with their mental wellbeing as a result of the pandemic, with many saying support from employers could help ease the stress they’re experiencing day-to-day. More →

May 12, 2020

Government publishes guidance on how people should safely return to work

by Jayne Smith • News

The UK Government has issued new guidance to help people return to work safely. Measures include redesigns of all workplaces including offices to maintain social distancing, staggered times of work, the use of as many entrances to a building as possible and changed layouts. The guidelines cover eight workplace settings including construction, offices and contact centres, factories, plants and warehouses and shops. More →

May 11, 2020

Employee productivity proves remarkably resilient during pandemic

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The surge in remote working coupled with the rapid adoption of communications and collaborative technology means many companies have seen no significant change in employee productivity, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson. Organisations have responded to the rapid disruption caused by the dramatic spread of COVID-19 by finding innovative ways to help their workers cope with the impact of the pandemic, while at the same time preparing for an eventual return to the workplace for many employees, according to the survey of employers’. More →

May 7, 2020

Coronavirus crisis drives freelancer confidence to unimagined lows

by Neil Franklin • News

Freelancers’ confidence in their businesses and the wider economy has been driven to record lows by the Coronavirus crisis, according to research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) and PeoplePerHour, Europe’s largest freelance marketplace. Freelancers’ three month confidence in their businesses had already fallen to a six-year low last quarter because of concerns about the changes to IR35 tax regulations. More →

May 6, 2020

Ridding ourselves of the productivity fetish will help us combat climate change

by Simon Mair • Environment, Features

Climate action is often about sacrifice: eat less meat, don’t fly, and buy less stuff. These things are essential. But climate action can also be about gain. Many causes of climate change make our lives worse. So transforming our societies to stop climate change offers us the chance to make our lives better. More →