September 23, 2021
Research from Omnipresent, in partnership with Remote Social, claims that four in 10 employers (40 percent) feel that COVID-19 has positively or extremely positively impacted employee retention. In contrast, less than a quarter (24 percent) feel that it has negatively or extremely negatively impacted this area. The survey considered the views of 250 HR managers and C-Suite professionals across the UK. (more…)
September 23, 2021
HR Acuity has announced the research findings from a recent survey, People Leaders and the Gap in Managing Employee Issues. The report, which includes data from 126 enterprise employee relations leaders and from nearly 700 people leaders from a wide range of industries and company sizes, provides insight into how people leaders handle employee issues such as policy violations, performance concerns and behavioral issues. (more…)
September 21, 2021
Predicting behaviours in the commercial property market is never an easy thing, yet we know that the pandemic has drastically altered this market. Whilst some players have advocated ‘the end is nigh’ for all office space, research shows a different picture emerging – namely the office space as we know it is evolving into something different. The impact of prolonged uncertainty has fuelled change. However, there are other forces at work shaping a brighter and more varied future for office space. (more…)
September 21, 2021
Poly has released research findings that claims to expose our ‘hybrid working secrets’. The survey, which was made up of 4,000 hybrid workers from the UK, France, and Germany, shines a light into new working behaviours and habits on and off camera. The findings suggest people may be suffering from ‘Home Comfort Syndrome’ as the lines between home and work blur. (more…)
September 17, 2021
New research into workplace discrimination, commissioned by CIPHR, claims just how widespread employment bias is in the UK. On average, one in six people (16 percent) report having suffered ageism, one in ten (10 percent) say they have been the subject of gender-based discrimination (12 percent of women and 7 percent of men), and around one in twelve feel that they have been on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment because of a disability, their race or sexual orientation (9 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively), at some point in their careers. (more…)
September 16, 2021
September 16, 2021
Fellowes Brands, has announced the results of its survey of over 6,000 employees across Europe, 1,000 of which are from the UK, claiming nine in ten (91 percent) of all European employees and 89 percent of UK employees say satisfaction is important to them in their workspace, regardless of whether working location is at the corporate office or the home office. Moreover, 88 percent of UK employees say satisfaction improves their productivity by more than 25 percent. (more…)
September 15, 2021
WorldGBC has announced an update to the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment), expanding its scope to recognise enhanced leadership action in tackling embodied carbon emissions from the building and construction sector. (more…)
September 15, 2021
More than two-thirds (70 percent) of UK businesses have been the victim of a successful network security attack in the last year, and 65 percent have been the victim of at least one ransomware attack in the last 12 months, according to new research from Barracuda Networks. (more…)
September 14, 2021
New ways of working will boost UK productivity and increase employment levels in cities outside of London, according to a new report from KPMG. And as businesses in some sectors prepare for employees to spend two to three days a week working from home on a permanent basis, demand for office space could see capacity potentially increase by as much as 40 percent, according to a new KPMG report, New working patterns and the transformation of UK business landscape.
The increased availability of office space in major business hubs is expected to attract businesses from smaller areas to fill up the vacant space, with cities like Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds and Birmingham set to see employment rise by 5-10 percent as a result. This will have a significant knock on effect for demand for office space.
Areas in central London are also expected to benefit, as well as smaller towns and cities with a large proportion of the workforce working partially from home. Meanwhile, less dense business areas could see a decline in employment and may need to be transformed into more residential, leisure, retail and other uses.
As the business landscape consolidates, KPMG analysis also claims the change could boost overall UK labour productivity by 0.5 percent, thanks to businesses being able to tap into a larger pool of workers, suppliers, and clients.
Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK, commented on the report: “As we emerge from the pandemic, businesses need to adapt to the new environment they will be facing. Some may choose to relocate to larger business hubs to boost profitability, while others in less central areas could see their local customer base profile change. While the overall impact on the UK economy is expected to be positive, the changes ahead could prove challenging for those businesses already saddled by the pandemic.”
The report examines how local high streets in residential towns and neighbourhoods are expected to reap the benefits of greater homeworking through increased demand by residents during the week. But the impact on high streets across the UK is unlikely to be uniform. Some places may be hit relatively hard by the loss of office workers due to their proximity to a larger business hub, which may be compounded by the loss of commuter footfall among remaining employees due to the prevalence of working from home.
Yael Selfin added: “As people spend more time working from home and less time in the office, we could see a revival of the local high street.
“They will need to transform into places of purpose to meet demand for community-based services, hospitality, culture, as well as retail. High street offering in smaller towns and cities may need to become more focused on residents’ needs and less focused on businesses and commuters.
“This transformation will require local government, residents and businesses to work together to map their future shape and make concrete plans to support and enable the necessary changes to make the most of the new post-Covid business reality.”
Chris Hearld, Head of Regions at KPMG UK, commented: “Over time, a shift in business location could support the rise of several major business hubs across the UK. An increase in the concentration of businesses and workers has the potential to make those businesses located there more productive and enable these areas to serve as the engines of economic growth. This should also support the Government’s Levelling Up agenda. Cities like Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and Newcastle stand to benefit from such a consolidation of business locations. For this to happen they will need government to work closely with local leaders to ensure the transition is smooth and any barriers to growth are quickly ironed out.”
September 10, 2021
I recently stumbled upon the phrase epistemic trespass, which describes the phenomenon of people making judgements in fields in which they have no expertise. I came across it as it was used to explain the sudden explosion of opinions about Afghanistan from a hitherto unknown horde of experts. Which may or may not be the same horde that has been so very certain about immunology and public health during the pandemic. It’s an old idea and one that needs to be treated with care, for reasons set out by Noah Smith here. But it is useful in some ways because we all recognise the phenomenon and how social media amplifies it. (more…)
Completions in central London are expected to hit a three-year high, with 5.5m sq ft scheduled for delivery by the end of this year, according to
September 23, 2021
Resilient companies need the trust of their employees more than ever
by Kate Field • Comment, Workplace