Search Results for: financial

June 7, 2017

Firms remain optimistic despite political uncertainty, Brexit and automation ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace

Britain’s start-up businesses are more optimistic about the future than those in the US, Europe and Asia, despite the uncertainties caused by Brexit, according to research by EY. According to the company’s Growth Barometer, half of UK businesses less than five years old expected to grow by more than 11 per cent this year. Almost a quarter were forecasting growth of more than 26 per cent. The findings are based on a survey of 2,340 middle market executives across 30 countries, reveal that in spite of geopolitical tensions, including Brexit, increasing populism, the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) and skilled talent shortages, 89 percent of executives see today’s uncertainty as grounds for growth opportunities. What’s more, 14 percent of all companies surveyed have current year growth ambitions of more than 16 percent.

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June 7, 2017

Coworking and the current French revolution in the workplace ⁰

by Baptiste Broughton • Case studies, Cities, Features, Flexible working, Workplace design

In France, we might have been the first to behead a King and hold a revolution, or to stand on barricades and die for ideals of justice and equality, but when it comes to change – especially in large organisations– we always seem to lag behind. You could blame it on a number of factors: a cultural bias towards tradition, the legacy of an interventionist and ever-present state, spawning bureaucratic models of large state-owned corporations, the everlasting grasp of the elites stifling innovation and the ability to “think outside the box”… Whatever this may be, the debate around remote working – a type of work organisation which allows employees to work regularly away from the office – in France has always been articulated around the preconception that France was behind. And that while its Anglo-Saxon or Nordic European neighbours displayed a boastful 30 percent of the working population as remote workers, France struggled to reach a meagre 9 to 10 percent in 2010.

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May 31, 2017

IBM’s retreat from flexible working. The world responds ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

In February 2013, Yahoo set off a mighty global stink when it sent a memo telling staff to forget about working from home, Starbucks, wherever and return to its corporate embrace. The intention of recently installed CEO Marissa Mayer was to increase collaboration and productivity by getting everybody in the same space. There is some logic to this, except for one thing. As Andrea Hak wrote for us in her masterful post mortem of the whole debacle last year: “With this change Yahoo was trying to attack a symptom rather than the root of the problem. Pitting employees against each other in a stack ranking style system actually discourages collaboration. The experiences of companies that ditched this system have shown that employees are more likely to try and undermine the competition than work together.” So who in the tech sector would possibly make the same mistake again? The answer is IBM.

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May 31, 2017

Brexit uncertainty fails to impact London office demand, as occupiers push ahead with relocations ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Property

Since the announcement in June last year that Britain would be leaving the EU as a result of Brexit, there has been a widespread assumption that occupier demand, and hence wider market confidence in the commercial property market, would be knocked. Yet that does not seem to be the case, according to a study by real estate advisers Knight Frank, who have tracked financial and TMT requirements over the last 12 months, and compared them to key years in the property cycle. The study claims that the property market has mirrored the wider UK economy, which has proved resilient following the vote to leave the EU. Firms have reported a shortage of skilled workers across a range of industries including IT, accountancy and engineering. Demand for staff is growing within all sectors and all regions of the UK, but there are fewer and fewer people available to fill the vacancies. A survey of UK CEO’s conducted by PWC at the start of the year reported that six in every ten respondents expected an increase in company headcount during the course of the year. Furthermore, a number of large international firms have acquired new offices, and many companies expanded across Central London including Expedia, WeWork, HSBC Digital and Zoopla.

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May 30, 2017

We will soon all have to work into our 70s, claims World Economic Forum ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace, Workplace design

The retirement age in Britain and other developed countries will need to rise to 70 by the middle of the century to head off the biggest pension crisis in history, according to a report from the World Economic Forum. The world’s six largest pension systems will have a joint shortfall of $224 trillion by 2050, imperilling the incomes of future generations and setting the industrialised world up for the biggest pension crisis in history. To alleviate the looming crisis, governments must address the gaps in access to the pensions system and ageing populations as they are the key sources of the widening pension gap. These are the main findings of the new World Economic Forum report, We’ll Live to 100 – How Can We Afford It?, released today, which provides country-specific insights into the challenges being faced at a global level and potential solutions. The report is the latest study to calculate the impact of ageing populations in the world’s largest pension markets, which include the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Canada and Australia. The issue has implications for the workplace that are already becoming evident as the working population ages and more people choose to defer retirement.

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May 23, 2017

British Council for Offices launches competition to imagine the office of 2035 ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Workplace design

Participants in a new competition to define the ‘office of the future’ will be asked to consider ‘what it will look like, and how it will support the way we will work’ by the British Council for Offices (BCO). The free-to-enter competition is seeking ‘forward-thinking and innovative responses, challenging the conventionalities of today’s workplaces and anticipating future needs’. The BCO hopes that the NextGen programme will allow it to ‘mentor the next generation of professionals – designers, agents, developers, consultants and others – and provides a platform for emerging talent to share their ideas’. The announcement cites social, economic, cultural and technological factors as the main agents of change, leading to changes in the expectations of employers and workers. It suggests that ‘ubiquitous and instantaneous technology; a growing interest in health and wellbeing; a greater desire for organisational flexibility; and an increased awareness of individual’s needs are now all competing factors within the workplace’.

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May 22, 2017

Long commutes cost firms a week’s worth of staff productivity each year ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Long commutes are causing poor health and productivity outcomes for the UK’s employees, according to a study of more than 34,000 workers, developed by VitalityHealth in partnership with the University of Cambridge, RAND Europe and Mercer, examined the impact of commuting as well as flexible and home working on employee health and productivity. The study found that employees commuting less than half an hour to get to work gain an additional seven days’ worth of productive time each year compared to those with commutes of 60 minutes or more. Longer commutes appear to have a significant impact on mental wellbeing, with longer-commuting workers 33 percent more likely to suffer from depression, 37 percent more likely to have financial concerns and 12 percent more likely to report multiple dimensions of work-related stress. These workers were also 46 percent more likely to get less than the recommended seven hours of sleep each night and 21 percent more likely to be obese.
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May 19, 2017

Only one in four people with a long-term mental health issue are in work ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Only a quarter of people with a long term mental health issue are in work, according to a report published by the TUC to coincide with its Disabled Workers’ Conference yesterday. The report, Mental health and employment, contains new analysis of official employment statistics, which finds that while 4 in 5 (80.4 percent) non-disabled people are in work, people with mental illness, anxiety or depression have substantially lower employment rates. Only one in four (26.2 percent) people with a mental illness lasting (or expected to last) more than a year are in work. Less than half (45.5 percent) of people with depression or anxiety lasting more than 12 months are in work. The TUC is concerned that this suggests employers are failing to make adequate changes in the workplace to enable people with mental illnesses, anxiety or depression to get a job, or stay in work. Mental health problems can often be ‘invisible’ to others, so a lack of mental health awareness amongst managers and employers is also likely to be a factor.

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May 18, 2017

Reflection on facilities management and the people I’ve met along the way ⁰

by Paul Carder • Comment, Facilities management

I’m in reflective mood. Yesterday was #WorldFMDay, I thought I should reflect on my affection for, and criticism of, Facilities Management (or Facility Management). It is merely one person’s perspective. But it may provide a viewpoint, perhaps useful (or not) for the younger professionals joining our sector. There are some great, varied, and sometimes well-paid careers ahead for people who pick up the education and variety of skills needed in today’s FM market. And to keep my friends happy, I’ll take the widest definition of FM that you may find! It is different in almost every organisation, and only limited by what one chooses to add to the FM portfolio. And the confidence shown in FM by the leadership of that organisation. That confidence is in the people who lead, manage and deliver FM – and there are some great leaders, managers and ‘do-ers’ around the world. It is a truly global sector.

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May 18, 2017

A mixed forecast for the accountancy profession: Brexit highs and digital lows ⁰

by Mike James • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

The accountancy profession is facing an uncertain future in the traditional sense. The question of automation is on everyone’s minds, as are the complexities of Brexit. On the one hand, news from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) suggests accountants will be in high demand during the Brexit process, on the other, gloomy reports of job automation suggest accountants will be one of the professions hardest hit in Britain’s long-term future. The implications of Brexit are yet to be uncovered. Clearly, Brexit will be a complex process and businesses will undoubtedly require the strategic insight and rigour of the accountancy profession. We have accepted that exiting the EU will likely be a complicated drawn-out process. The effects on business will be bound up in complex trade deals, government policies and the ratification of EU laws affecting business in the UK.

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May 9, 2017

Number of CEOs with technical background grows to meet demands of digital economy ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

The number of CEOs from a financial background is falling as firms put more sway into technology skills, a new report claims. The annual Robert Half FTSE 100 CEO Tracker shows that in the last four years the number of CEOs with a technology background trebled as businesses prepare to compete in an increasingly digital economy. In 2014, only three CEOs had a background in technology while today this number has increased to 11. There is a also a generational shift occurring in the FTSE 100, with just eight CEOs under the age of 50 on the FTSE 100, a quarter less than in 2010 when there were 33 CEOs under the age of 50. The typical age of a CEO is 55 years old and the average tenure is five years and two months. While a majority of CEOs still have a background in finance, this figure has fallen to 43 percent from 55 percent last year and the lowest level in three years. Of those CEOs with a financial background, nearly half (19 percent) are Chartered Accountants.

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May 1, 2017

Fresh concerns raised about council investments in commercial property market ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Property, Public Sector

As we reported last month, the level of investment in commercial property undertaken by UK local authorities is raising serious concerns within both central government and the real estate sector. Now, a fresh warning has been issued by the former business secretary Sir Vince Cable that councils face potential bankruptcy if the property bubble bursts. In recent years councils have faced an average 37 percent real term cut in government funding and so have taken to borrowing large sums at low interest rates from the Treasury’s Public Works Loan Board to reinvest in commercial property ventures. The move has already been identified as risky by the Government’sown Public Accounts Committee and Cable joins a chorus of voices in expressing doubts.