August 6, 2019

Voices from the age of uncertain work

by David L Blustein • Features, Working culture, Working lives

On the surface, the wellbeing of the American worker seems rosy. Unemployment in the U.S. hovers near a 50-year low, and employers describe growing shortages of workers in a wide array of fields. But looking beyond the numbers tells a different story. My new book, “The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty,” reveals that some Americans are experiencing an erosion in the world of increasingly uncertain work that is hurting their wellbeing, relationships and hopes for the future. More →

August 6, 2019

Stress most prevalent among health and social workers

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Health and social care are the most stressful industries to work in, according to an analysis by The Office Group (TOG), which claims that health and social workers tend to work longer hours and report more cases of work-related stress, depression and anxiety than staff in other sectors. TOG calculated an overall stress score for 12 industries across the UK, using public data on the number of self-reported cases; average full-time hours; number of days lost to self-reported cases; and the likelihood of future automation. A recent report from the CIPD also highlighted how stress is now a fact of life for most workers. More →

August 2, 2019

Work is no more insecure than it was twenty years ago, claims report

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Working culture, Working lives

Employment insecurity affects many people but, overall, work in the UK is as secure as it was 20 years ago, with limited evidence of growing casualisation, new research from the CIPD claims. The report Megatrends: Is work really becoming more insecure? finds that at 20 percent, the share of non-permanent employment in the UK – which includes the self-employed and temporary workers (including temporary zero hours contract workers) – has not increased since 1998.

July 31, 2019

CIPD offers new guidance on non-traditional work roles

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Following the recent government consultation on improving the rights of variable hours workers, the CIPD has published new employer guidance to help ensure that ‘atypical working arrangements’ benefit both the organisation and individuals. The guidance, Atypical Working: A guide to successfully implementing atypical work in your organisation, defines atypical working as practices which include the self-employed, temporary workers, agency staff and people on zero hours contracts.

July 31, 2019

Political chat dominates watercooler moments

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

UK workers are becoming increasingly saturated with political chat with just under half (46 percent) claiming they’ve noticed a significant increase in discussions had by colleagues since the EU Referendum. Despite once being considered the ultimate professional faux pas, new research from Jobsite.co.uk claims that political chat has now entered our workplaces in a big way with 3 in 5 comfortable discussing political matters. More →

July 31, 2019

Construction industry prepares for a downturn

by Jayne Smith • News, Property

Construction industry bosses are reorganising their workforce in preparation for a potential downturn, with higher levels of sub-contracting and lower levels of direct employment, claims new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). There was a decrease in employment levels among small construction firms with 21 percent of employers reporting a reduced workforce. Workloads for construction SMEs grew with 27 percent of employers reporting higher workloads. More →

July 30, 2019

London now has its own Good Work standard

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched London’s Good Work Standard, pledging to make London ‘the best place to live and work’. The standard has been developed in partnership with CIPD, claims to bring together good employment practice with resources and guidance written by CIPD experts and tested with London based CIPD members, the framework sets out to support employers of all sizes across the city improve their people management practices and create good work for all.

July 29, 2019

The tipping point for flexible working arrives

by James Geekie • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Although people have been talking about flexible working in one way or another for decades – the economist John Maynard Keynes declared in 1930 that technological advances would lead to a 15-hour working week – we may now be at the tipping point where work takes on an entirely different character. More →

July 29, 2019

Half of self-employed workforce now over 50

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

The number of over 50s working for themselves made up 46 percent of the UKs entire self-employed workforce in the first three months of 2019, according to new research from jobs and volunteering board Rest Less. There are now 2.27 million over 50s who are self-employed – up from 1.45 million 10 years ago, an increase of 57 percent in a decade. The survey looked at data from the Office of National Statistics to highlight self-employment trends amongst the different demographic groups in the UK. More →

July 25, 2019

SMEs remain in dark about rights of disabled employees

by Neil Franklin • Legal news, News, Wellbeing

Despite ambitious government policies to get a million disabled people into work over the next ten years, the latest ONS data shows a minuscule 5 percent increase since the 2017 goal, which would only see a total of merely 5,800 disabled people in work by 2027 if the pattern continues. In light of the disability employment issue, a new survey of UK SME owners conducted by Bolt Burdon Kemp claims that 95 percent of respondents don’t know the full legal rights of disabled employees. More →

July 22, 2019

UK could receive £250 billion boost if labour market matched that of Sweden

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

New analysis by economists at PwC claims that, if the UK could match Sweden in terms of its employment rates for women aged 25-54, older workers and the proportion of its young people not in employment, education or training, the potential boost to UK GDP could be as much as 12 percent, or around £250 billion at 2018 values. Although the UK labour market has been strong in recent years – the employment rate is at a record high of over 75 percent and unemployment is at its lowest level since the mid 1970s – new research from PwC indicates that performance is middling compared to other OECD economies. A new composite Labour Market Performance index, combining results from PwC’s Youth Employment, Golden Age and Women in Work indices, finds the UK is 19th overall amongst OECD countries. Iceland and Sweden top the combined index rankings based on the latest available annual data for 2018. More →

July 18, 2019

Construction sector loses patience with Brexit indecision

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Activity in the construction sector rose in the second quarter of the year, despite concerns that political uncertainty surrounding Brexit was holding back investment. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors claims that the market has lost patience with the lack of clarity over Brexit and that clients were beginning to push ahead with projects, albeit tentatively. In its construction and infrastructure survey, a balance of 16 per cent of respondents reported an increase in work, up from 9 per cent in the previous quarter. More →