November 19, 2020

Covid-19 is levelling the playing field for disabled workers

by Ruby Gullon • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

As many of us cope with yet another lockdown, optimism is easy to misplace but, for disabled workers, this could result in monumental change for future employment. On the month commencing the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act and the run-up to International Day of Disabled Persons, could this be the final push for change? As we swing in and out of remote-working, whether you love it or loathe it, one thing is abundantly clear – it can be done. Something that the 2 billion people currently living with disabilities have always known. Life can be accessible anywhere if you put your mind to it. (more…)

November 19, 2020

Rising job insecurity during pandemic linked to mental distress

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Employees facing increased job and financial insecurity at the onset of the pandemic suffered a wave of mental distress, according to research published by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). Rates of mental distress among employees were 60 percent higher in April than before the pandemic, and 50 percent higher in May, with significant increases both for employees who were furloughed and those who continued at work. (more…)

November 18, 2020

The new era of elemental change for the workplace

by Neil Franklin • News

In the latest issue of IN Magazine, Chris Kane talks about his new book Where is My Office? and how this is possibly the best time to publish a book about workplace transformation, in spite of the upheavals of the last year. Another author and world-famous workplace expert to publish on a related theme is Neil Usher. His new book, Elemental Change, is also timely as many organisations look to a post-pandemic era in which they must challenge many of their previous assumptions about their structure and how, where and when they work. (more…)

November 18, 2020

Generation BETA is the latest demographic grouping you need to acknowledge, claims report

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

GlobalWebIndex (GWI), together with LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, has launched “Work in BETA: The Rising B2B Decision Maker”. The new report sets out to examine the ‘changing behaviours and attitudes of “the BETAs” – the first cohort of digital natives (21 to 40 year-olds) to assume positions of seniority in business, at a time of dislocation’. (more…)

November 16, 2020

Built environment sector must think in radical ways and act quickly

by Neil Franklin • Cities, Environment, News

The construction sector, the real estate industry and city planners must give high priority to the same goal – to drastically reduce their climate impacts. Powerful, combined efforts across all of the built environment sectors are absolutely crucial for the potential to achieve the UN’s sustainability goals. And what’s more – everything has to happen very quickly. These are the cornerstones to a roadmap presented at the recent Beyond 2020 World Conference. (more…)

November 12, 2020

New to working from home? Here is how you should set up

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The past year has been something of a game-changer in many ways and perhaps one of the most unexpected has been how people have had to embrace the idea of working from home. (more…)

November 12, 2020

Covid-19 crisis has created unique challenges for working single parents

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

New research published by Gingerbread and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) highlights unique challenges for working single parents including for those who will lose their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 Crisis. As the country experiences a second Lockdown, and with growing unemployment and continued childcare restrictions, it is vital that the government provide better support to single parents. (more…)

November 11, 2020

UK office design should look to Europe for inspiration

by Ollie Plastow • Comment, Workplace design

The word ‘office’, based on the Latin term officium, wasn’t originally used to describing a building, or a space: instead it was used primarily as a term for a position: a role that was occupied by a person. So it seems only right with this etymology to take inspiration from Europe. And when considering office design, use that inspiration to build workspaces that reflect the needs of the people working within them. (more…)

November 9, 2020

More stability in sight for employment but three in ten employers still planning redundancies

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working lives

The pace of deterioration in UK job prospects is starting to slow this autumn due to very modest improvements in planned recruitment activity and a slight decrease in employers’ intentions to make redundancies. This is according to the latest quarterly CIPD/the Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey – involving more than 1000 employers and covering all sectors of the economy. (more…)

November 6, 2020

Third of home workers feel disconnected, Leesman data shows

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Insights from Leesman’s ongoing home working study of more than 145,000 workers has revealed that a significant number of employees feel disconnected to their colleagues and organisation, while others struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Over a third of home workers (35 percent) feel disconnected to their organisation when working from home and a further 31 percent feel disconnected to their colleagues, Leesman data has revealed. (more…)

November 6, 2020

Furlough schemes are leaving isolated staff down in the dumps

by Steven Buck • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Since March, Glint has been creating a dataset which now consists of 7 million survey responses from employees around the world and across a broad range of industries. Our aim is to take the pulse of the global workforce to see how it’s faring with our ongoing global health crisis and to understand its effects on work. The recent August report shows that pandemic-related layoffs and furloughs have hit employees hard. 56 percent of respondents report feeling less happy at work after seeing co-workers furloughed or laid off. Half of respondents say their organisation’s layoffs or furlough plans have had a negative impact on their workload (50 percent) and their sense of belonging or community at work (47 percent). (more…)

November 6, 2020

CIBSE launches COVID-19 achievement award

by Jayne Smith • Events, News, Property

A new award recognising the work undertaken by building services professionals and the wider supply chain to combat the effects of COVID-19 has been set up by CIBSE. (more…)