November 9, 2020
As COVID-19 has forced businesses to change where and how they work this year, the learning disability charity Mencap is now calling on employers to think differently about WHO they employ. The pandemic has highlighted the invaluable contribution people with a learning disability and/ or autism can make as hardworking and valued employees. More →
November 2, 2020
A new study in the British Sociological Association’s journal Work, Employment and Society has found that 10 percent of mothers and 30 percent of fathers do not know that they have the right to ask their employer to consider changes to how they work as part of flexible working regulations introduced as much as 17 years ago. More →
October 29, 2020
Cloud-based access control company Kisi has released their 2020 work-life balance city index, highlighting how major cities from the 2019 edition have since been impacted by the global pandemic. While every city in the index suffered economic, social and structural consequences, the results of this year’s edition claim that having a safety net in place for workers made a large difference in how a city navigated the crisis. More →
October 28, 2020
We have come a long way since the government began encouraging home working in March, ahead of the national lockdown. It seems wildly naïve now to assume that we would all be back in the office two or three weeks later as if nothing had ever happened. After many months of mixed messages regarding ‘stay at home’ versus ‘go back to work’, many business owners and employees quite rightly feel that the whole process seems like one step forward, two steps back. And yet, one thing that has become clear for all office-based businesses is that working life has changed forever. More →
October 21, 2020
The Future of Jobs 2020 report from the World Economic Forum claims that COVID-19 has caused the labour market to change faster than expected. The research suggests that what was recently considered the future of work has now arrived. By 2025, automation and a new division of labour between humans and machines will disrupt 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies. More →
October 20, 2020
There has been a gradual shift towards increased flexible and remote work patterns in the last few years. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the perfect storm to force organisations to further consider their working practices, with all but essential physical roles usually involving an element of homeworking – nearly half of people in employment in the UK did some work at home in April 2020, according to the ONS. Many businesses are expecting to operate a largely remote workforce for the foreseeable future. The fear of declining productivity and concerns for people wellbeing has encouraged many employers to increase their employee monitoring arrangements. More →
October 20, 2020
Research carried out by the CBI prior to the pandemic suggests there is an urgent need for the UK to embark on a radical programme of reskilling that goes further and faster than current plans. According to the CBI, the UK faces a stark choice: invest more in lifetime learning and upskilling of millions of employees, or stick to business as usual, and risk sustained higher rates of unemployment and skills shortages. More →
October 15, 2020
A new report from Dynata, a data and insights company, raises global concerns about the economy, and a “down but not out” resilience across the UK. The report claims that we are now a nation of home workers (as opposed to shopkeepers), juggling a work-life balance as the end of furlough approaches, and many predict a steep rise in redundancies. Dynata’s Global Trends Report: The Economy Edition surveyed over 9000 people across 9 countries globally, including over 1,000 respondents from the UK. More →
October 12, 2020
A new study by independent job board, CV-Library claims four in 10 (42.9 percent) professionals feel their mental health is worse than it was a year ago. What’s more, female workers appear to be suffering more than their male counterparts (46.9 percent of women vs. 39.9 percent of men). More →
October 8, 2020
2020 has been the most stressful year in history for the global workforce and people want robots to help, according to a new study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm. The study of more than 12,000 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives across 11 countries claims that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased workplace stress, anxiety, burnout and other mental health issues for people all around the world, and would prefer a robot instead of other people to help. More →
November 9, 2020
Working from home could energise some of our overlooked cities
by Michel Serafinelli • Cities, Comment, Flexible working