Search Results for: flexible

Government unveils Industrial Strategy to boost productivity and wealth

by • News, Property, Technology

The UK government has published its ‘ambitious’ Industrial Strategy, which it claims sets out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK. With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next 3 years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million to ‘transform the construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy’

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Workers would be prepared to take a pay cut for an agile working life

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

A new survey claims that the ability to accommodate agile working into their life is important, with those who prefer to work agile claiming they would sacrifice an average of 16 percent of their annual salary for the opportunity.In addition to this, 86 percent stated they would even change jobs to accommodate their preference. The report into recruiting for an agile workforce suggests that despite being a relatively new concept, over half surveyed were familiar with it and over 22 percent of those had worked in an agile environment for over two years. However, recruiters claim less than half of the roles they’re working on offer agile, finding it’s most prevalent in the IT sector. The study reveals both recruiters and candidates believe the key attributes for success in agile are being flexible, organised and hardworking. Interestingly, the majority of recruiters believe these are required in advance and cannot be developed on the job. Meanwhile, social qualities (like being introverted or outgoing) or being easy going are less important.

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Seven workplace stories that have focused our minds this week

by • Facilities management, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Innovation in real estate: it’s now or never

Is this the office that people really want?

We only have a ten percent chance of making AI safe

Good thinking might be your silver bullet

The once enlightened approach to staff wellbeing and engagement at Barclays

Drones will reshape how we build cities (registration)

Law firms average arrive and leave times

Image: Simon Heath

Average worker now spends 27 working days a year commuting, finds TUC

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Commuters are now facing an average 58-minute daily journey – the equivalent of 27 working days a year, according to a TUC analysis. Getting to and from work now takes an extra 5 minutes a day compared with a decade ago – the equivalent of an extra 20 hours a year spent on congested roads and packed trains. The number of workers facing very long commuting times (over 2 hours) has gone up by 34 percent over the last 10 years, with 3,291,012 now facing very long journeys. Rail commuters face the longest journeys, taking an average of 2 hours and 12 minutes every day – an increase of 4 minutes on the last decade. Drivers spend 52 minutes on the road to work and back (up by 4 minutes), while bus commuters must set aside 39 minutes a day (up by 7 minutes). Cyclists (43 minutes) and walkers (30 minutes) have the quickest daily journeys.

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The contribution of personality to the performance of agile workers

by • Features, Flexible working

The introduction of agile working into organisations has typically focussed on the workstyles of different job roles, but has tended to treat the jobholders within these groups in the same way. The successful introduction of new ways of working clearly relies on the willingness of the people occupying the job roles to embrace new ways of working; yet there has been little investigation of the needs of agile workers with different personality types beyond looking at the needs of extroverts and introverts. These studies have tended to focus on the workplace; for example, the Cushman Wakefield Workplace Programme briefing paper examines how organisations can accommodate the needs of extroverts and introverts working together in the workplace. However, using OCEAN personality profiles, Nigel Oseland found that different personality types have different preferences, which in turn are likely to affect their performance at work.

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Falling supply and growing demand for affordable office space in London is putting undue pressure on SMEs

by • Cities, News, Property

As the pressure grows for small businesses to find affordable workspace in the UK’s capital, the London Assembly has published a new report that looks at ways of addressing the underlying issues, especially a fall in the availability of appropriate space. According to the Assembly, the pressure on affordable workspace for SMEs in London is increasing. Sixteen per cent of industrial land was lost between 2001-2015 and if the trend continues, industrial land in London could fall a third by 2041. In outer London, almost one fifth of workspace could be lost to residential homes and since 2013, the relaxation of permitted development rights has led to the conversion of 1.47 million square metres of office space to residential homes.

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Millions of unemployed over 50s struggle more than young people for jobs

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

New data published today shows that the over 50 age group experience an ‘unemployment trap’ – meaning they are more likely to be out of work than younger age groups, and once unemployed they struggle more than younger jobseekers to get back into employment. Currently almost a third of 50-64 year olds in the UK are not in work – some 3.3 million people. Within this, 29 percent are recorded as ‘economically inactive’ – not engaged in the labour market in any way – which is more than twice the rate of those aged 35-49 (13 percent). It is estimated that around one million of the over 50s who are out of work left employment involuntarily due to issues such as ill health, caring responsibilities or redundancy. Some 38 percent of unemployed over 50s have been out of work for over a year, compared to 19 percent of 18-24 year olds and the Centre for Ageing Better claims that employment support is failing this age group.

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Serviced offices and coworking spaces boom in Manchester in response to growing customer demand

by • Coworking, News, Property

Rising demand from businesses for flexible working space has sparked a boom in the provision of coworking spaces serviced offices in Manchester in 2017, according to the latest office market snapshot by real estate advisors Colliers International. The report showed serviced office providers addressed the need for flexible working from small and growing operators by taking in excess of 100,000 sq ft of space in Manchester in the first three quarters of 2017. Major developments included global co-working specialist WeWork following the opening of its first office outside London at No 1 Spinningfields by adding another 44,000 sq ft at One St Peter’s Square and property developer Allied London launching its own co-working brand All Work & Social to operate alongside WeWork at Spinningfields.

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Gig economy workers need more workplace protection claims report

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Businesses and employees are calling on the UK Government to provide more protection for those who work in the gig economy. In a survey of nearly 5,000 workers and over 100 businesses by jobs site  totaljobs, 90 percent of employees and 87 percent of employers said that more regulations were needed to protect the rights of gig workers. In addition, 64 percent of employers believe the gig economy’s importance will only continue to grow in the next year, as individuals turn to self-employment in favour of more flexible working arrangements.

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Office rents begin to fall in Central London as Brexit uncertainty bites

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Office rents have begun to slip across Central London, and the chief reasons could be uncertainty around the outcome of the Brexit talks and the UK seemingly missing out on the rising level of global trade, suggests Cluttons’ London Office Market Bulletin Autumn 2017. While the report highlights that many locations in Central London have seen headline office rents hold steady for the better part of two years, rent free periods have been moving out in order to sustain this, but now appear to be at a critical tipping point, level, which is driving some landlords to consider alternative incentives, such as delayed completions. Freddie Pritchard-Smith, Head of commercial office agency at Cluttons said: “Many firms remain nervous about making a long-term commitment to more space, choosing either flexible overflow space or to reconfigure within their existing office. The exception to this of course remains the serviced office and TMT sectors, who have helped transactional levels in the West End to surpass 4 million sq ft already this year, which is paradoxical to the falling rental conditions.”

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Time to address the missed opportunities and wasted resources of the modern workplace

by • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Rapidly changing work and workplaces. Productivity languishing below optimum levels. Staff engagement well below where it should be. Ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. All this has been building over the last couple of years; it would appear that organisations have never had it so tough. There have been plenty of tough times before, of course, but we have been witnessing something of a ‘perfect storm’ in recent months, where a whole range of issues and developments, as well as advancements and opportunities, have come together to push these challenges up the management agenda. But there are things we can do to make the workplace a better experience for everybody.

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UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employees

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

UK remains the most attractive country for employers and employeesDespite recent figures indicating that work productivity is down in Britain, the UK remains a highly attractive country for employers and employees based on a combination of talent, location, quality of life and cost, according to the latest edition of Colliers International’s European Cities of Influence report. The analysis of 50 major European economic cities for employers saw London retain its top position, with all other UK cities in the analysis featuring in the top 20 (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow).The report finds that quality of life factors are important to accelerate business and attract talent with the research revealing that the nature of workplace strategy is evolving so rapidly that keeping up — let alone staying ahead of the curve — can be a challenge. Employers are now focused on creating a workplace that can attract and retain talent by incorporating co-working and collaborative facilities, flexible working options and ingraining a healthy mindset. With the onus on keeping employees happy and productive, the design and utilization of the workplace is helping to accelerate business productivity more than ever before.

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