Search Results for: flexible working

Quarter of British workers have a side hustle as well as their main job

Quarter of British workers have a side hustle as well as their main job

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Academics at Henley Business School have revealed a growing trend in ‘side hustles’ which shows that as many as 1 in 4 people in the UK are running at least one business project alongside their main day job, contributing an estimated £72 billion to the UK economy. Henley has published a white paper on the emerging side hustle economy. Its study of over 500 business leaders and 1,100 UK adults found the trend is now happening at an unprecedented pace across the UK.  A side hustle is defined as a secondary business or job that brings in, or has potential to bring in, extra income. 73 of people who start a side hustle do so to follow a passion or explore a new challenge, but there are financial benefits too, with side businesses contributing 20 percent to side hustlers’ income.

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Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody

Why a Google office simply does not work for everybody 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

The open plan office versus closed debate rages on, and rather than running out of steam in the face of all of the evidence and reasoned argument put forward one one side or the other by many industry thought-leaders, it seems to have nine lives. Those grand and ground-breaking  new offices occupied by the world’s tech giants seem to be particularly popular examples of why highly open and transparent workplaces do, or don’t work, especially those headline-grabbing offices created around the world by Google. This public debate has led to some very interesting and insightful discussions in various forums (to which I have contributed), inspiring me to synthesise the key themes into four reasons why a Google office is not necessarily the right type of office for your organisation. Many thanks in particular are due to David Rostie and Kay Sargent for their valuable online contributions to the debates which inspired this article.

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Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Nearly half of employees still assigned to one place as traditional office clings on

The worry over a loss in productivity when people are able to work anywhere is entirely unfounded, and what we once called “alternative”, we have come to call current and future workplace strategies, a new report claims. Yet the new study, ‘The Once Alternative Workplace Strategies’, which was conducted and released by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA), Global Workplace Analytics and Haworth Inc, found that nearly half of employees are still permanently assigned to one space; with no change since 2008. The research pinpoints five leading trends within today’s workplaces and compares the findings to the initial research from more than a decade ago. More →

Two-thirds of employers believe agency and gig workers should be able to request a stable employment contract

Two-thirds of employers believe agency and gig workers should be able to request a stable employment contract

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Two-thirds of employers (67 percent) back the introduction of a new right for agency workers and zero-hours contract workers to request a stable contract, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The findings, which form part of the CIPD’s response to the Government’s consultation on the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, are based on a survey of 1,000 employers. The survey found that 67 percent of respondents said they support the right to request a stable contract, which would potentially allow agency workers to request a permanent contract of employment and zero-hours contract workers to request regular or guaranteed hours.The CIPD believes the right to request should be available to people who have 12 months of continuous service with one organisation, a suggestion supported by 41 percent of employers. 32 percent of respondents supported a period of at least six months and 20 percent were in favour of at least three months. More →

Additional 1.5 million people planning to trade the rat race for the gig economy

Additional 1.5 million people planning to trade the rat race for the gig economy

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Rise of the gig economy is transforming the UK employment landscapeMore than 6 million UK adults are already self-employed or working as a contractor in the so-called gig economy, with a further 6 percent of currently  full-time professionals looking to make the transition this year. New research of more than 2,000 UK adults commissioned by WeMa Life claims to reveal how the rise of the gig economy is transforming the UK’s employment landscape, with one in five (19 percent) working adults currently identifying themselves as being a freelancer, sole trader or self-employed. The study found that 71 percent of gig economy workers identified flexibility as the biggest appeal for working on a contractor or temporary basis. Furthermore, having control over the hours and types of jobs undertaken has also empowered a new section of the workforce that were previously unable to access full-time employment – it was uncovered that nearly half (46 percent) of those working in the gig economy do so because they are not in a position to work a full-time job due to other commitments in their life.

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Artificial intelligence, robots and automation set to transform the office environment

Artificial intelligence, robots and automation set to transform the office environment

by • Features, Technology

In today’s highly digital landscape, tools like AI and machine learning were developed to significantly improve productivity in the workplace. But despite their existence, many companies still trail behind in terms of integrating AI in their office environments. In fact, an article on Workplace Insight previously noted that over a quarter of employers fail to provide staff with digital and flexible tools. Though it is predicted that the next couple of years will see businesses adapt to a human-and-machine environment, organisations still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of digital basics.

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London’s tech startups and SMEs shift focus from normal hotspots to migrate South of the river

London’s tech startups and SMEs shift focus from normal hotspots to migrate South of the river

by • News, Property

Hubble, an office and coworking marketplace, has published new data which it claims shows that tech startups and other growing SMEs in London are leaving the capital’s best known tech hotspots, including Shoreditch and Soho, for south of the river.  Hubble’s search data suggests that London Bridge (29 percent of all searches) is the most popular location in London for companies searching for flexible office space in 2018 (a sharp rise from 3.7 percent of searches in 2017), beating Shoreditch with 27 percent of all searches. More than 37 percent of searches were for office space in south London, counting London Bridge and the Southbank (8.5 percent). Startups and SMEs are branching out to different creative “hub-spots” within London, but most prominently is an unprecedented shift to south of the river. Searches for London Bridge specifically make up 29 percent of all searches and the Southbank, as a whole, making up 37.5 percent of all search queries.

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Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

Optimal workplace productivity gains could add £39.8 billion to British and Irish economies

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The United Kingdom could reshape its economic future and unlock its share of £39.8 billion in untapped GDP if organisations were to ‘optimise their workplaces’, according to a new study by Ricoh and Oxford Economics, titled The Economy of People (registration required). The UK could achieve a 1.8 percent increase in GDP, equal to £36.8 billion, which could pay for the cost of Brexit twice with change to spare. Similarly, the Irish economy could expand by 1.0 percent, or £3 billion, if businesses commit to creating the optimal office. The findings from The Economy of People are based on forecasts of how productivity in various industries will improve, if investment in workplaces makes them optimal for those that work there and their employers. Surveys and interviews were conducted with employees and executives to uncover how workplace elements, such as culture, physical workspace and technology affect performance and productivity.

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Over half of employers expect to spend less time in traditional office space

Over half of employers expect to spend less time in traditional office space

by • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Over half of employers expect to spend less time in traditional office spaceUsers of co-working and flexible space rapidly growing in numbers, according to a report, Marketplace for flexible work, from research conducted by (flexible workspace provider) The Instant Group and architects HLW. The report claims to ‘analyse’ the coworking and flexible workspace sector to gather a ‘360-degree perspective’ of the industry to determine where ‘perspectives align and diverge among stakeholders’.  The research also claims that location and the ability to assign or reassign employees to workspace on short notice were also important influencers when choosing flexible workspace over conventional office space. Looking forward, the research claims that more than half of the companies interviewed envisage spending less time working from a traditional company office space.

Manchester offices dominate BCO Awards for North of England

Manchester offices dominate BCO Awards for North of England

by • News, Property, Workplace design

Manchester based businesses dominated the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) regional property sector awards dinner held in Manchester at the end of last week.  Shoosmiths LLP, Hilson Moran, Neo and The Bright Building all being recognised as some of the best workplaces in the North of England.  Other workplaces across the North of England that also received recognition were Number One Kirkstall Forge, Leeds (Winner, Best Commercial Workplace, Waterfront Point, Widnes (Winner, Best Corporate Workspace and Albert Works, Sheffield (Winner, Best Projects up to 1,500 m2)

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Majority of US workers still prefer to work from an office

Majority of US workers still prefer to work from an office

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

According to data from the quarterly Randstad Workmonitor survey,, although 82 percent of U.S. workers surveyed say the ability to work from anywhere at any time allows them to maintain a healthy work-life balance, more than half (62 percent) still prefer to work in the office — and this number is even higher among young workers. Sixty-five percent of those aged 18-24 said they prefer working in a traditional office environment, challenging the widespread perception that millennial and Gen Z workers tend to prefer digital interactions over personal ones.

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Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is increasing talent turnover

Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is increasing talent turnover

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Lack of effort by UK employers to retain staff is resulting in high talent turnover

UK employers are facing increasing levels of staff turnover with one in seven (14 percent), or roughly 4.5 million employees predicted to seek a new job in near future, according to research carried out by Robert Half UK. Employers have registered this shift with almost three in five (61 percent) reporting an increase in voluntary employee turnover in the last three years. The research also showed that over half (51 percent) expect employee turnover to increase in the next three years. Yet many businesses still fail to employ basic retention initiatives. Only half (47 percent) of organisations run training and development programmes to help build employees’ skills and support career development, while most don’t have any programmes in place to support employee wellbeing or reward performance. Organisations are also missing out on valuable insight from their departing employees, with more than four in five (83 percent) failing to undertake exit interviews.

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