Search Results for: future of work

September 18, 2017

The mega trends that continue to reshape the workplace around the world

by Neil Franklin • Events, Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Last week, over 600 workplace and property experts met in London at the CoreNet Global Summit 2017 to discuss some of the most important trends affecting the sector. The debates underlined one important fact about property and workplaces, which is how they are shaped by major, globalised events as much as they are local needs and the objectives of specific organisations. This quickly became evident on day one, which demonstrated how dramatic shifts in the geopolitical landscape, all of which are impacting corporate real estate – from America First to Brexit – remain key talking points for the industry. Opening speaker Linda Yueh (University of Oxford and London Business School) explored several possible scenarios, including how the focus of ‘Trumpism’ would have a significant effect on the U.S. role on the world stage, with the priority on the domestic economy leaving little scope for global trade. She also predicted that a ‘hard Brexit’, with no new trade deal with the EU, will be the most likely outcome for the UK’s withdrawal process; and that businesses will need to focus on alternative WTO rules as an urgent priority. Other impacting factors covered by Yueh included the rise of a dominant global middle class, and China’s need to rebalance its economic growth drivers.
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September 14, 2017

Millions of older workers fear poor health will shorten their working lives

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Even though the age of the working population in the UM continues to rise, more than half of over fifties people have concerns around work and its impact on their health as they age, with women (61 percent) particularly worried about this. According to the study from Aviva, 13 percent intend never to stop work completely although only 14 percent of older workers say their workplace culture is positive towards them. According to Aviva’s latest Real Retirement study, 55 percent admit to fearing that work will become detrimental to their health or they might not be well enough to keep working, including 13 percent who say this is already an issue for them. Fewer than one in five (17 percent) over-50s workers say they have access to wellbeing advice and initiatives in the workplace which could help prevent health issues from impacting their careers.

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September 11, 2017

Urgent action needed to boost small business workplace productivity says CIPD

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

The CIPD is calling on Government to invest £13m a year to provide HR support to small businesses, as new research shows that it could be a key part of efforts to resolve the UK’s workplace productivity puzzle. The call is based on the evaluation of year-long People Skills pilots providing HR support for SMEs in Hackney, Stoke-on-Trent and Glasgow. People Skills was developed by the CIPD, with support from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. It provided up to two days’ worth of free HR support to small firms, including face-to-face advice, a telephone helpline, online information and templates, as well as group training events.

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September 8, 2017

Economic gains from digitisation, robotics and AI must benefit workers says TUC

by Sara Bean • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

In the same week that Gartner offered some useful insights into the building blocks for a successful digital workplace, the TUC has published its views on the impact of digitisation, arguing that the economic gains from digitisation, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) should be used to benefit working people. This would include reversing policies to raise the state pension age. The report Shaping Our Digital Future explores how the next technological revolution will impact on jobs and wages. Previous waves of technological change have not led to an overall loss of jobs, but have disrupted the types of job people do. And with the most recent wave of industrial change, rewards from higher productivity have gone predominantly to business owners, rather than being shared across the workforce through better wages and working conditions.

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September 7, 2017

Report sets out building blocks of a successful digital workplace strategy

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace design

Digital workplace developments often lose their way, or fail, due to a fragmented approach that prioritises a few technology ‘fixes’ over business strategy, according to analysts at Gartner. To combat this, ‘digital workplace leaders’ in public sector organisations need to employ a framework to ensure their digital workplace initiatives address eight critical components required for a successful implementation, according to Gartner. The report (paywall) sets out what it claims are the eight critical components — “building blocks” — that application leaders need when planning, directing and evolving digital workplace programs:

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August 23, 2017

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Employer confidence in the UK economy has moved into negative territory, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The net balance fell from +6 per cent last month to -3 per cent in the latest report, as 31 per cent of employers now expect the economy to worsen and just 28 per cent expect it to improve. Employers are still looking to hire, with one in five (19 per cent) planning to increase permanent headcount in the next three months. Confidence in making hiring and investment decisions remains positive with a net balance of 10 per cent, but is at its lowest for the past year. In addition to signs of deteriorating employer confidence, consumers are also becoming more pessimistic. The GfK’s index of consumer confidence fell to -12, equalling last year’s post-referendum low.

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August 17, 2017

How workplace design shapes and reflects organisational hierarchies

by Angela Love • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

The roots of the open plan office can be traced back to the 1960s when post-capitalism was beginning to emerge as a political and intellectual movement. The social and political upheaval that followed World War Two and the emphasis on the autonomous, motivated and engaged worker combined to inspire designers and architects to develop a new and more “modern” way of working. A mode of work characterised by an increased emphasis on social relations and flattened hierarchies. The open plan office was heralded as the ‘office of the future’; a progressive, transformative and near utopian design concept which would enable its occupants to thrive and succeed in a more socialist world. Yet the proponents of the open plan do not appear to have been fulfilled in large corporate businesses in the UK. I’d like to suggest that this failure is not a design fault but rather a problem caused by a clash of ideologies. Upon closer inspection, it appears that these larger corporations have not fully been able to shift into the social-democratic model of collaborative, open working styles.

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August 2, 2017

Whatever you might be told, this is not the Office of the Future

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

It seems like we don’t have to wait more than a few days at a time before some or other organisation is making its own prognoses about how we will be working in the future, especially at this time of year. The thing these reports about the office of the future all share in common, other than a standardised variant of a title and a common lexicon of agility, empowerment, collaboration and connectivity, is a narrow focus based on several of their key narratives and assumptions. While these are rarely false per se, and often offer some insights of variable worth, they also usually exhibit a desire to look at only one part of the elephant. The more serious reports invariably make excellent points and identify key trends, it has to be said. However, across them there are routine flaws in their thinking that can lead them to make narrow and sometimes incorrect assumptions and so draw similarly flawed conclusions. Here are just a few.

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July 31, 2017

It is time to take action to support older people’s health at work

by Patrick Thomson • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Poor health is one of the biggest factors causing people to leave work earlier than they would like to; yet poor health isn’t an inevitable part of ageing. We know that health conditions can become more likely as we get older. While some health conditions are not any more likely the older you get, others certainly are. Musculoskeletal conditions (affecting joints, bones and muscles) and heart and circulatory conditions increases significantly as we age. The fact that 14 percent of all 50-64 year olds have a musculoskeletal condition, and that musculoskeletal conditions alone account for 30 million days of sickness absence each year, is significant. People are by impacted by health conditions in different ways, and you can have a dramatically different outcome depending on how early you spot and take action to address a health issue at work. Sometimes slow-onset physical conditions such as musculoskeletal conditions, might start off mildly, but gradually lead to a painful exit from work. Because they change slowly they are more difficult to identify and there isn’t always a clear trigger point to do something about them.

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July 21, 2017

Insurance claim data suggests that musculoskeletal disorders dominate workplace health

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

According to an analysis of the private medical insurance (PMI) records of over 45,000 UK employees carried out by Aon Employee Benefits with its largest clients, the highest claims are for musculoskeletal disorders- almost double those for cancer related illness. In a study of reports from private medical insurers (PMI), Aon found that 31 percent of claims were for musculoskeletal concerns, while 15 percent were cancer related, 4 percent were for mental disorders and 4 percent for urology. The data forms part of its new report, Wellbeing: Examining the correlation between employee health and financial wellbeing. Among the remaining 46 percent of claims, problems included gastrointestinal issues, diagnostic and treatment planning (equally prevalent), followed by obstetrics, heart, respiratory, head/neck, trauma/injury, nervous system, and eyes, ears and dermatology.

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July 20, 2017

Tax reforms forcing contractors out of public sector work, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • News, Public Sector

New research from CW Jobs claims that the public sector is seeing an exodus of IT contractors following the introduction of the IR35 tax reforms. The changes mean IT contractors in the public sector are now taxed like employees. It came into effect in April this year and has meant contractors are losing up to a quarter of their previous take home pay. A significant 71 percent of the IT contractors surveyed said their income had reduced because of IR35. Nearly a third (29 percent) of those have seen an 11-20 percent reduction in income, while more than a quarter (27 percent) have seen a 21-30 percent reduction. The changes have prompted many IT contractors to make the switch from public to private sector. Nearly half of the 1,000 IT candidates surveyed (47 percent) say IR35 has caused IT contractors to leave the public sector and over three quarters (83 percent) said the private sector is now the most attractive to work in.

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July 13, 2017

What we may be missing about IBM’s decision on flexible working ⁰

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that IBM had announced that it was obliging a significant number of its staff to give up on remote working and instead move back to corporate offices, many of them regional hubs. Although we had been aware of the change in policy since February, the issue only went viral as a result of the WSJ story. Comparisons were quickly made with Yahoo’s poorly received decision to summon staff back to its corporate HQ in 2013 and commentators expressed dismay that such a major corporation would be willing to return to the command and control structures of a previous era, especially given its sector and track record of encouraging flexible working. What such commentary missed was a particular nuance of the story that might suggest this is more of a continuation of existing IBM policy than they have been given credit for.