March 19, 2021
Around a half (51 percent) of employees believe job security and flexibility (40 percent) are more important than salary (32 percent) when considering whether to remain at their current employer, according to a new report by UK law firm, Winckworth Sherwood. (more…)
March 9, 2021
As employees continue to be forced home during the pandemic, nearly half of them are reporting high levels of exhaustion. A new study by Virtira Consulting claims 49 percent of employees experience a high degree of exhaustion from being required or pressured to be on camera during online meetings. (more…)
February 24, 2021
In March 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced countless employers around the globe to send their non-essential employees home. Few organisations had a contingency plan for such a scenario, meaning the overwhelming majority of employers had to rethink their operations and communication functions on the fly. (more…)
February 12, 2021
The impact of the nation’s deteriorating mental health from Covid-19 lockdowns and other restrictions cost UK businesses £14bn last year, according to a study by Westfield Health. The cost of absenteeism from work due to mental health reasons increased last year by £1.3bn from 2019’s totals as work from home, travel restrictions, furlough and pay cuts changed the workplace for millions of people across the UK. (more…)
February 5, 2021
How good your line manager is makes the difference between an employee coping or struggling in lockdown. But too often line managers’ heroic efforts are not noticed by their employers, claims new report, titled Working under Covid-19 Lockdown: Transitions and Tensions. (more…)
February 3, 2021
When the COVID-19 crisis hit the UK in March 2020, many commented that the virus didn’t discriminate and that its impact would be felt equally by everyone. However, as highlighted in Nuffield Health’s recent whitepaper, the mental health impact of the virus – rising from financial worries, anxiety around health and the direct impact of COVID-19 – has hit some groups harder than others. (more…)
February 2, 2021
‘Stress by Sector’ data released by e-days claims concerning statistics that stress-related appointments are up generally in business by 64 percent over 2019. The data claims that the sectors struggling most with stress-related sickness are unsurprisingly healthcare (0.64 days of stress related absence on average per employee), followed by Government and International Affairs (0.57 days on average per employee) and Human Resources and staffing (0.39 days on average per employee). (more…)
December 10, 2020
When we think about inclusivity and diversity in the corporate world, we often think of racial and cultural diversity, gender, or LGBTQ+ inclusion—but one aspect that has been too long forgotten or ignored is the topic of disability inclusion. Caroline Casey, disability activist, CEO and founder of the Valuable 500 initiative, notes that though 90 percent of companies say they prioritize inclusivity in the workplace, just 4 percent of them include disability inclusion as a consideration. (more…)
November 23, 2020
The construction of new offices in central London has declined by half (50 percent) in six months as developers and occupiers shift their focus to refurbishment, according to Deloitte Real Estate’s latest London Office Crane Survey. The crane survey analysed office building data over the six months to 30 September, and included a poll of London’s biggest developers conducted at the end of September. The total office space under construction in central London is now 15.1 million sq ft. This is similar to the level recorded in the previous survey (15.3 million sq ft, the highest since 2002) as developments are now taking longer to complete. (more…)
November 20, 2020
It has now been more than eight months since the government first advised people to work from home if possible, due to COVID-19. The shift to remote working happened suddenly in March and quickly became part of everyday life; in April 2020 alone, 47 percent of people in employment did some work at home, compared to just 16 percent in the whole of 2019. IT teams were extremely successful in getting staff up-and-running with the right technology, but there was little time for organisations to fully train users before driving adoption, or personalise the approach based on individual need. This places a new onus on HR teams. (more…)
November 20, 2020
A survey issued by architecture, design, and planning firm Gensler suggests that rumours of the demise of the office may be greatly exaggerated. However, over two-thirds of UK workers don’t want to go back to their old working lives either, preferring a hybrid working model, spending between 1 and 4 days in the office each week. (more…)
March 9, 2021
The office will bounce back, but not as we remember it
by Luke Munro • Comment, Property, Workplace design