Search Results for: four day week

Will coronavirus mean the death of the office?

Will coronavirus mean the death of the office?

by • Comment

Betteridge’s law of headlines declares that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no”. And so I simultaneously ask and answer the question of whether the coronavirus pandemic will really lead to the death of the office. So it goes. Of course, I’m not the first person to raise the question over the last few weeks as the world adapts to the threat of the pandemic. But it’s worth reminding ourselves that the demise of the office has been predicted for at least a quarter of a century, although never in such circumstances. (more…)

Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

Flexible working could improve mental health and lives of fathers

by • Flexible working, News

Father and son walk on beach showing need for flexible workingMen feel frustrated in their jobs and discriminated against at work and want a better balance between work and family life in much the same way as women, according to the results of the annual survey by workingdads and workingmums. One in four dads said they’d had time off work due to mental illness, with a third of those citing the stress of work and home. Around half of working dads said their career had stalled since they became a father. Almost 70 percent admitted they feel stuck in their current role because they fear they wouldn’t be able to find another job with the amount of flexible working they need. (more…)

Pressing self-destruct, a final solution to workplace noise, a broken psychological contract and some other stuff

Pressing self-destruct, a final solution to workplace noise, a broken psychological contract and some other stuff

by • Features

I’ve never really wanted to go to MIPIM. I’m suspicious of it all for a number of reasons I won’t go into although you might reasonably guess what they are. So, I enjoyed this piece from Polly Plunket-Checkemian about her own misgivings. I understand that the testosterone level has been dialled down recently, but like Polly I’d like to see a re-examination of its format and intent, especially given that the real estate sector is having to rethink where it fits into the new era of work and meets the challenge of coworking.

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Meatspace, cyberspace, the uncertainty of expertise and some other stuff

Meatspace, cyberspace, the uncertainty of expertise and some other stuff

by • Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The sign that somebody knows their stuff about a subject is often that whatever they say about it is full of questions, equivocations and caveats. They’ll often start out by saying things are complicated in mitigation of their opinion on a particular topic. They’ll say there are no silver bullets. It’s almost always neophytes, chancers and the conflicted that offer certainty. To prove my point here is David D’Souza of the CIPD making a point about the tendency to look for pat, narrow solutions to complex, broad challenges. Not only does he have something interesting to say, you know that he has the depth and breadth of knowledge to expand on each of the points he makes with yet more sophistication. It’s fractal thinking.

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Does your employee benefits package have a marketing problem?

Does your employee benefits package have a marketing problem?

by • Company news, Wellbeing

Despite many businesses investing heavily in employee benefits, many of these perks fail to deliver their full potential. Here's what to do about itDespite many businesses investing heavily in employee benefits, many of these perks fail to deliver their full potential. According to the 2025 Drewberry Employee Benefits and Workplace Satisfaction Survey, just 12 percent of UK employees report being truly satisfied with their benefits package. This gap in satisfaction isn’t always about the benefits themselves, but is often a failure of communication. This latest research shows that while benefits may be in place, just 36 percent of employees fully understand what’s on offer. Even fewer regularly engage with these benefits. (more…)

Lack of flexible working options drives a million people to swap jobs last year

Lack of flexible working options drives a million people to swap jobs last year

by • Flexible working, News

More than a million UK workers have quit their jobs in the past year due to a lack of flexible working, according to a new poll from the CIPD.More than a million UK workers have quit their jobs in the past year due to a lack of flexible working, according to a new poll from the CIPD. The organisation’s latest report highlights a growing tension between employer demands and employee expectations, particularly among younger workers. The survey of 2,000 employers and 5,000 employees suggests that around 3 percent of the workforce left their roles since January 2024 because they were unable to access the flexibility they needed. The findings come more than a year after UK workers gained the legal right to request flexible working from day one. (more…)

At home down under: hybrid working has become a way of life in Australia

At home down under: hybrid working has become a way of life in Australia

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

The majority of Australian employees work from home at least part of the week, with hybrid working now embedded in organisational cultureThe majority of Australian employees now work from home at least part of the week, with hybrid working becoming embedded in organisational culture, according to a new report from the University of Melbourne and Western Sydney University. The study, Navigating the Future of Working from Home in Australia, is based on survey data collected in late 2023 and charts how working patterns have changed in the years following the pandemic. It suggests that while fully remote work remains uncommon, most employees now work from home one to three days per week and expect that flexibility to continue. (more…)

Younger people increasingly willing to give up remote work for secure work, study suggests

Younger people increasingly willing to give up remote work for secure work, study suggests

by • Flexible working, News

New data from over two million job seekers suggests that younger people are becoming less focused on remote work options as they face a more competitive jobs market.New data from over two million job seekers suggests that younger people are becoming less focused on remote work options as they face a more competitive jobs market. The latest Work Index from Flexa, which tracks workplace preferences based on real-time job search behaviour, found that Gen Z candidates (aged 16 to 28) are now the least likely age group to seek remote-first roles. In March 2025, just 24 percent of Gen Z job seekers expressed a preference for fully remote positions, compared to 35 percent of Gen X (aged 45 to 60). (more…)

Lack of space continues to hold back a ‘return to office’

Lack of space continues to hold back a ‘return to office’

by • News, Property, Workplace design

Workers are resisting the so-called return to office due to a lack of desk space, following widespread reductions by companies in the wake of CovidWorkers are resisting the so-called return to office due to a lack of desk space, following widespread reductions by companies in the wake of Covid. A fifth of workers cited a shortage of desks and facilities among their top three reasons for avoiding the office, according to a survey by real estate consultancy Remit Consulting. The firm claims that businesses may have scaled back desk numbers too aggressively after the pandemic spurred a rise in home working. (more…)

Office attendance and desk use are on the rise as firms make most of real estate

Office attendance and desk use are on the rise as firms make most of real estate

by • News

office attendance and desk use continue to go up, although the provision of workstations has been reduced as part of an overall rationalisation of corporate real estateA new report from AWA claims that office attendance and desk use continue to go up, although the provision of workstations has been reduced as part of an overall rationalisation of corporate real estate. The report also suggests that this may have reached its optimal point right now as just 13 percent of UK organisations are considering further downsizing, suggesting that most firms think they may have reduced their real estate as far as they can. (more…)

Small businesses are aware of benefits of using AI, but don’t know where to start

Small businesses are aware of benefits of using AI, but don’t know where to start

by • AI, Business, News

According to a new poll from hiring platform Indeed, around a third of small businesses are scared to implement AI, despite acknowledging the many apparent benefits of doing soAccording to a new poll from hiring platform Indeed, around a third of small businesses are scared to implement AI, despite acknowledging the many apparent benefits of doing so.  According to Indeed’s survey of 1,000 business leaders at British small businesses, 41 percent of small firms want to integrate the technology into their business, but don’t know where to start. This paralysis means that small businesses – which make up  over 99 percent of the nation’s total businesses – are missing out on improvements to costs, efficiency and overall work satisfaction that they themselves say it can bring about, the report argues. (more…)

What we should learn from the sad story of Denise Prudhomme

What we should learn from the sad story of Denise Prudhomme

by • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Denise Prudhomme died alone at her desk, disconnected from colleagues, but also everybody elseI was chatting to somebody last week about the person in the US who died, alone and ignored at a desk, unnoticed for over four days. Their instinctive and understandable response was to ask whether the story was apocryphal. Sadly, not. Sixty-year-old Denise Prudhomme had clocked into work at the Arizona office of Wells Fargo at 7 am on Friday, August the 16th. Her death some time that day went unnoticed until the following Tuesday afternoon, when a colleague discovered her body slumped over her desk in a cubicle. (more…)

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