Search Results for: flex

Two thirds of young professionals now have a ‘side hustle’ to make ends meet

Two thirds of young professionals now have a ‘side hustle’ to make ends meet

A relaxed looking young man sitting at a desk to illustrate the idea of a side hustleTwo thirds of professionals under the age of 24 claim to have a ‘side hustle’ – with 74 percent stating it is ‘too risky’ to focus on just having one job as they may have done pre-pandemic. In a poll – of 6,000 white-collar professionals – undertaken by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters; 54 percent of young professionals expressed a desire for a ‘portfolio career’ – the concept of monetising your skills in several ways and having multiple income sources, rather than a single job at one company. More →

Hybrid working is now an essential part of many job offers

Hybrid working is now an essential part of many job offers

A bunch of carrots to illustrate how firms are using hybrid working and other benefits to attract talentA new US study conducted by IWG  claims that employers view the hybrid working model as an essential part of their toolbox when it comes to recruitment, hiring and retention, with nearly 95 percent of HR leaders saying it is an effective recruitment tool. Released today, the ‘HR Leaders & Hybrid Working Report’ examines findings from a poll of more than 1,000 HR professionals at managerial and board level. More →

Major new report offers snapshot of hybrid and remote work debate in the US

Major new report offers snapshot of hybrid and remote work debate in the US

Two colleagues in a coworking space to illustrate how hybrid and remote work is changingOwl Labs and Global Workplace Analytics have just released their sixth annual State of Remote Work report. Based on a survey of over 2,300 full-time workers across the United States, the report reveals the latest trends and perspectives on a range of issues from remote work and hybrid work, trust, intent to move, training offered, workplace redesign, intent and reasons for quitting, technology needs, employee surveillance, the 4-day workweek, and more.

More →

Investment in real estate upgrades stalls in face of economic and business challenges

Investment in real estate upgrades stalls in face of economic and business challenges

An image of some offices to illustrate the challenges facing real estate investors Research by ULI and PwC claims that nearly half of Europe’s real estate leaders are concerned about buildings becoming obsolete in the next five years in the face of long-term upheavals in demographics, climate change, technology and lifestyles. Most of the 900 or so industry leaders that participated are making long-term resources available to address the fit-for-purpose agenda. However, the challenging business environment has reshuffled priorities to financing and high construction costs, and scarcity of resources has made real estate renewal more expensive to achieve, consequently delaying much needed investment. More →

Vast majority of unemployed over-50s planning to return to work

Vast majority of unemployed over-50s planning to return to work

An exclusive survey of over 50s by the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, claims that an overwhelming 91 percent of inactive workers in the age bracket intend to return to work.  The Office for National statistics (ONS) recently revealed that the number of people aged 50-64 who are economically inactive has increased by 3.6 million, a rise of 10 percent since before the pandemic and the survey results support this with 41.5 percent reporting that they either left a job or have been out of work since then, but a turnaround looks imminent. More →

Problems at Twitter, grease proof chairs, and the trouble with AI

Problems at Twitter, grease proof chairs, and the trouble with AI

The level of layoffs at several Big Tech firms has been the main source of news and comment over the past week or two. Around 11,000 people at Facebook and another 7,500 at Twitter are to be made redundant. Elon Musk then ensured the conversation moved on by forbidding remote work completely. More →

Summing up where the office now stands in the scheme of things

Summing up where the office now stands in the scheme of things

A painting in the style of Edward Hopper of a lone man waiting to board a commuter train to get to the office The argument about what it takes to encourage people to come into the office more often seems to have boiled down to an equation. It’s now common to hear somebody argue that the office has to be worth the commute it takes to get to it. So, if you want people to spend more time in the building, you need to do the maths. O must be greater than or equal to C More →

The new Fern family from Bisley offers stylish storage solutions that feel like home

The new Fern family from Bisley offers stylish storage solutions that feel like home

Pink Bisley Fern cabinet in a plant filled roomFern is a new range of freestanding cabinets designed especially for the home by storage experts Bisley. With stylish utility at its core, the colourful capsule collection is elegant, flexible, functional and full of personality. The range, which is designed and made in Britain, reinvents traditional home storage formats of tallboys, linen presses, larder cupboards, credenzas and bed- or sofa-side cabinets in a no-nonsense, timeless aesthetic of hand-folded, vented sustainable steel. More →

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

An office cafe to illustrate the new wave of hybrid workingA report from Unispace claims that employees’ new preference for hybrid working has created an immediate need for firms to re-think their real estate footprint. Today, with over 60 percent of office-based employees preferring to work remotely or in a more flexible way, rather than commute to city centres five days a week, employers are considering the greater use or addition of satellite offices to their portfolio. According to the study of 3,000 office workers across Europe, 79 percent of the workforce would be happier to return to the office if it was just five to 10 minutes away from their home, suggesting that satellite offices could be a solution to boost collaboration, socialisation, engagement and staff retention. More →

Responsible capitalism, and space as a service will shape real estate industry over next 20 years

Responsible capitalism, and space as a service will shape real estate industry over next 20 years

A flexible office space from Instant Offices, a pioneer of space as a serviceEurope’s real estate leaders have set out a long-term vision for the industry. In this scenario the most successful firms have adopted ‘responsible capitalism,’ the user is the centre of attention, the cycle of demolition and development has been broken, mixed-use is the norm and multi-disciplinary and in-house teams deliver space as a service across a range of sectors. Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2023, the twentieth annual survey of European real estate sector leaders’ expectations by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC, has looked beyond the year ahead at the trends shaping the industry over the next two decades. This report captures the views of over 900 sector leaders from across Europe. More →

Commercial property sector should embrace circular economy, say BCO

Commercial property sector should embrace circular economy, say BCO

A man relaxing in a green office space to illustrate the circular economy in the commercial property sectorA new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO) is urging the commercial property industry to ‘retain, extend life, reduce impact’ to futureproof offices. The report sets out to provide circular economy guidance to the office sector in relation to new-build, refurbishment and fit out. The Circular Economy in Offices report [BCO members only] claims to set out how offices can be designed and constructed in order to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials and regenerate nature. More →

Who’s driving this bus, anyway? A critical review of Leading People in Change by Jennifer Bryan

Who’s driving this bus, anyway? A critical review of Leading People in Change by Jennifer Bryan

A caterpillar sits on a dew dropped leaf to serve as a metaphor for changeWriting about change isn’t easy, but too many people try it. I tried it with Elemental Change (LID, 2020). Jennifer Bryan succeeded where I didn’t, and managed a short book about change. Her book Leading People in Change also succeeds where I didn’t by focussing on one aspect of change, leadership. So far so good, despite my initial uncomfortable reaction to the title suspecting it might be a handbook for ensuring people did what we wanted them to do, regardless. Fortunately, not so. More →