Search Results for: employment

HR professionals must seek a new connection with the IT team

HR professionals must seek a new connection with the IT team

HR and ITIt 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…)

Covid-19 is levelling the playing field for disabled workers

Covid-19 is levelling the playing field for disabled workers

two people talking to illustrate the growing number of disabled people in self-employmentAs many of us cope with yet another lockdown, optimism is easy to misplace but, for disabled workers, this could result in monumental change for future employment. On the month commencing the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act and the run-up to International Day of Disabled Persons, could this be the final push for change? As we swing in and out of remote-working, whether you love it or loathe it, one thing is abundantly clear – it can be done. Something that the 2 billion people currently living with disabilities have always known. Life can be accessible anywhere if you put your mind to it. (more…)

CIPD identify key trends that will influence the future of the HR profession

CIPD identify key trends that will influence the future of the HR profession

A new report from the CIPD, sets out the key trends that will have an impact on the future world of work and how these will shape the profession and the roles and capabilities of people professionals. (more…)

Rising job insecurity during pandemic linked to mental distress

Rising job insecurity during pandemic linked to mental distress

InsecurityEmployees facing increased job and financial insecurity at the onset of the pandemic suffered a wave of mental distress, according to research published by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). Rates of mental distress among employees were 60 percent higher in April than before the pandemic, and 50 percent higher in May, with significant increases both for employees who were furloughed and those who continued at work. (more…)

Most students don’t expect a ‘clear career path’ after graduation

Most students don’t expect a ‘clear career path’ after graduation

career pathThe majority of students don’t expect they will be able to find a clear career path after graduating and almost one in 10 believes their prospects are ‘bleak’, a new survey claims. A poll of 1723 poll students conducted by UNiDAYS and insurance company Urban Jungle in October 2020 claims that just 37 percent of students believe they will find a career easily after leaving university. (more…)

Covid-19 crisis has created unique challenges for working single parents

Covid-19 crisis has created unique challenges for working single parents

ChallengesNew research published by Gingerbread and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) highlights unique challenges for working single parents including for those who will lose their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 Crisis. As the country experiences a second Lockdown, and with growing unemployment and continued childcare restrictions, it is vital that the government provide better support to single parents. (more…)

Burnout, stress and disconnection are now our most urgent workplace mental health issues

Burnout, stress and disconnection are now our most urgent workplace mental health issues

burnoutThis has been a tough year all round, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cause seismic shifts in how we live and work. Surveys across various countries indicate that employees are experiencing more feelings of burnout, stress and disconnection as the pandemic is taking a toll on people’s mental health. What’s causing this and what can we do to combat it? (more…)

What Carl Sagan could teach us about knowledge and information

What Carl Sagan could teach us about knowledge and information

Unbelievably for those of us who saw him as a personal hero, yesterday marked the 24th anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan. At the time of his death in 1996, the Internet was very much in its infancy but Sagan could see what was coming, including how we need to filter what is valuable from the deluge of information we now bob around in. Sagan put it like this: “all of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.” (more…)

Working from home could energise some of our overlooked cities

Working from home could energise some of our overlooked cities

working from homeFor years, we have been promised a work-from-home revolution, and it seems that the pandemic has finally brought it to pass. In April this year, at the height of the first wave of coronavirus, 47 percent of people in the UK were working from home, the vast majority of them doing so because of the pandemic. In a sense this is overdue: the work-from-home potential for UK employees is 32 percent; in France, Germany and Italy between 24 percent and 28 percent. (more…)

Now is the time for employers to think differently about who they hire

Now is the time for employers to think differently about who they hire

EmployersAs 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…)

Third of fathers unaware of their flexible working rights

Third of fathers unaware of their flexible working rights

flexible working and fathersA 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…)

Massive increase in numbers of self-employed people on universal credit

Massive increase in numbers of self-employed people on universal credit

self-employedA new report from IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) suggests that there has been a massive increase in the number of self-employed people on Universal Credit since 2019. (more…)