November 2, 2020
Search Results for: employment
October 29, 2020
Oslo tops list of cities with the best work-life balance
by Jayne Smith • Business, Flexible working, News, Working lives
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 21, 2020
Future of work has arrived sooner than expected, WEF report claims
by Neil Franklin • AI, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace
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
Remote work and the risks of employee surveillance
by Joe Aiston and Alexander Barnett • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
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
Radical reskilling needed to ensure future of economy
by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace
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
Work-life balance suffers for millions, as remote working increases
by Jayne Smith • News, Working lives
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
Four in ten UK workers feel their mental health is worse than a year ago
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing
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
Most people with mental health issues would prefer a robot therapist to a human
by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing
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…)
October 5, 2020
Coronavirus will lead to a permanent change in the way we work
by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News
Coronavirus will have a lasting impact on office use and levels of remote and flexible working, new figures from the Institute of Directors suggest. That is the unsurprising findings of a survey of close to a thousand company directors conducted in September. The poll claims nearly three quarters (74 percent) of respondents said their firms would maintain increased levels of remote and flexible after the pandemic ends. (more…)
October 1, 2020
Global businesses commit to disability inclusion
by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture
The Valuable 500 – the global movement which is working to get 500 of the world’s largest businesses to commit to placing disability inclusion on their business leadership agendas – announces 326 global businesses have committed to putting disability inclusion on their board agenda. (more…)
September 30, 2020
People still prefer permanent jobs despite rise in number of freelance roles
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives
Workers (82 percent) would rather have permanent jobs than “be their own boss” in a freelance or contract role, even as the self-employed and gig economy has grown rapidly in recent years, claims new research from the ADP Research Institute. Many workers believe that permanent work is preferable for a host of reasons including regular hours, better pay, timely payments, and the ability to get credit. (more…)


















October 28, 2020
It`s not just businesses that need to wake up to changes in the way we work. Governments do too
by Jeremy Stein • Comment, Workplace design