January 30, 2024

Workplace design and the corrective force of rediscovery

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

It has become something of a preoccupation of mine to consider why so many of the conversations we hold about workplace design are largely about the rediscovery of old ideas. It may be because there are constants about how people interact with their surroundings and each other and the truisms underlying those interactions. Although these are often reframed by the amount of data we now have to support them, some things never change. More →

January 25, 2024

Motherhood penalty means many women in tech leave due to care responsibilities

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Almost 40 per cent of female tech leavers cited caring commitments as a decisive factor in their decision to leave the industry, according to research by Tech Talent Charter. Work life balance was ranked the most important consideration, as working parents are juggling careers and full-time caring commitments, prompting the Tech Talent Charter and MotherBoard Charter to join forces to address maternity retention in tech. Women who have flexible working arrangements have a significantly higher retention than those who didn’t. These findings emphasise the damage that the ‘motherhood penalty’ has on the tech industry and its ability to keep women working within it. More →

January 22, 2024

London’s office market is reshaping the city and the way people experience the workplace

by Sam Mardon • Comment, Property

London’s office market continues to adapt to evolving workforce demands. The normalisation of hybrid and flexible working since the pandemic remains the biggest cultural shift that the office sector has witnessed in decades. In addition to the rise in demand for quality-as-a-must in 2023, collaboration, culture, and connectivity will lead the charge for office space trends in the year ahead. More →

January 16, 2024

Employers must act to offer more choices to people

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Henley Business School’s World of Work Institute has published a new report on what it calls The Omniployment Era The report claims to identify which what a post-Covid, post-Great Resignation workforce looks like. The study identifies six distinct worker ‘segments’* in the UK workforce and quantifies what attracts and retains them in jobs, and provides advice to businesses on how to build a strong workforce. More →

January 11, 2024

(As always) two-fifths of people say they are planning to change jobs this year

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Nobody seems to be calling it The Great Resignation any more, but two-fifths (40 percent) of the UK workforce are planning to move jobs in 2024, with one in six already beginning their search as staff look to boost their pay packet, according to the latest Candidate Sentiment Survey statistics produced by recruitment firm Robert Half. The survey’s authors claim these statistics demonstrate the resilience of the labour market as more candidates look to capitalise on skills shortages to boost earnings. Those aged 18-34 are more likely to move roles than any other age group (56 percent). More →

January 5, 2024

Get Workplace Insight weekly and free magazines straight to your inbox

by Neil Franklin • News

Get the best of the previous week’s news, features and commentary from Workplace Insight direct to your inbox by subscribing at the link below. In this week’s newsletter: news on the growth in the flexible working market, the impact of AI on middle class jobs, and how the final stage of your career might be one of disillusionment. There’s commentary on the most popular workplace stories from the past year and how tech is stealing your time. And we ask what ever happened to the Great Resignation. Plus links to the new issue of IN Magazine and the latest episodes of the Workplace Geeks and Workplace Cocktail Hour podcasts. More →

December 17, 2023

Only a quarter of firms say that staff will need to work full time from an office in future

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

New research by the British Chambers of Commerce Insights Unit and technology firm Cisco, shows less than 30 percent of firms expect their workforce to be fully in person over the next five years. The survey of over 1,000 businesses, of which 96 percent were SMEs, found just 27 percent of respondents predict their staff will be fully in-person over the next five years. 47 percent anticipate their staff to be mostly in-person, 16 percent expect mostly remote and 8 percent fully remote. More →

December 8, 2023

Ten years of Insight and a few things I think I know (one of our most read pieces this year)

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

This website started in late 2012 as a way for me to explore both a new media format and a new way of thinking about work and workplaces. I’d already been active in various roles in the workplace, design and facilities sector for twenty odd years, but needed a new challenge. And this was it. I was going for a ride with an idea to see where it went. More →

December 7, 2023

Curtail zero hour contracts and give workers guaranteed work hours, say researchers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

An evidence review led by the University of Warwick has concluded that the increase of zero hours contracts over the last 20 years has created significant risk for workers. They found that unreliable work can result in a sudden loss of hours and earnings, and an inability to access legal advice for unfair or potentially unlawful employment practices. Along with colleagues from the ReWAGE expert advisory group, academics at the Institute of Employment Research at the University of Warwick examined the legal and workplace practices associated with zero hour contracts, along with data covering flexibility, pay insecurity, workers ability to assert their rights and workers health and wellbeing. More →

November 27, 2023

If you want people to feel fulfilled at work, you’d better cough up

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

According to a new poll from United Culture, salary is what makes most people feel fulfilled at work. More than half of employees (55 percent) ranked it as their key consideration, ahead of ‘softer’ factors such as doing something worthwhile (41 percent), or working with people they like (39 percent). It also ranks significantly higher than opportunities that will play out over the longer term, such as having a clear sense of career progression (37 percent). More →

November 24, 2023

The final word on… workplace trends

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

You would not believe the number of firms that ask us to publish a list of workplace trends each week. Or maybe you would, given the number that have appeared – and are appearing -elsewhere. Each firm perhaps convinced they are saying something original, unique or interesting, or maybe simply convinced they stand out in some way, while pushing the same timid, stale narratives about the workplace. They will proliferate over the next month or so at the turn of another year. More →

November 20, 2023

Most women say menstruation symptoms have a negative impact on their work

by Neil Franklin • Wellbeing

The latest findings from the CIPD’s report Menstruation and support at work, which surveyed more than 2,000 women, found that more than two thirds (69 percent) of women have a negative experience at work because of their menstruation symptoms. In response, the CIPD is calling on organisations to create awareness, tackle the stigma associated with menstruation and train managers to be confident, comfortable and inclusive when talking to employees about menstrual health. More →