September 22, 2021
Hybrid working could bring nearly four million people “locked out” from work such as parents, carers and disabled people into the workforce and enable part-time workers to work more hours adding £48.3bn to the UK economy each year, according to a new study by Virgin Media O2 Business and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). (more…)
August 30, 2021
The proportion of people over 50 in employment is set to hit 47 percent by 2030, following a 36 percent increase in the absolute number the last two decades, according to a new report from Legal & General Retail Retirement (LGRR) and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). (more…)
August 20, 2021
The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the economy (and the gig economy) will not be clear for some time. But in the UK, the easing of pandemic related restrictions has coincided with significant labour shortages and the driving up of wages. Statistics show that wages have risen 7.4 percent in the past year, and the number of job vacancies has continued to rise (up to 953,000 in July 2021). Those vacancies have appeared amid continued travel restrictions from abroad, and the prolonged furlough scheme, which is keeping over 1 million people tied to employers that don’t have work available for them. (more…)
August 9, 2021
Earnings on demand company, FlexEarn has agreed a partnership with payroll technology leader, Sage, to provide a new Earned Wage Access service to UK businesses using Sage Payroll software, supporting responsible financial wellbeing for employees. Available now via Sage Business Cloud Marketplace, the app allows employees to withdraw a portion of their salary in advance of their regular salary payment date, helping them budget more easily and with less stress. (more…)
August 5, 2021
One of the more welcome outcomes from the pandemic has been a reinvigorated and better conversation about the environment in general and workplace sustainability in particular. There were some immediate quick wins in the Spring of 2020. Cleaner air became evident in atmospheric readings and satellite images. People literally took to the streets as traffic all but vanished. Planes were grounded. We could hear birdsong. Wild animals populated some streets. It was as if Nature itself breathed a sigh of relief. (more…)
July 23, 2021
I recently read an interesting little book called Office by Sheila Liming. It’s a small book, easy to read in a sitting and linked to a series of essays in The Atlantic. The author is a Professor of English so it’s no surprise to find that it’s beautifully written and draws on a range of sources to illustrate its points. It’s pretty sound on its own terms but also illustrates perfectly what is wrong with so many current narratives about work. The writing may not be clichéd but the thinking often is. (more…)
July 14, 2021
A fifth (19 percent) of employees do not know how their employer would support them if they were absent through ill-health or injury, 16 percent think that their employer provides no support and nine percent said they would only receive Statutory Sick Pay of £96.35 per week. This is according to new research from GRiD, the industry body for the group risk protection sector. (more…)
July 14, 2021
The Mayor of London, in partnership with Nesta Challenges, has announced the winners of the Mayor’s Resilience Fund, a £1 million innovation programme set up to support London’s businesses and community groups to emerge stronger from COVID-19 and to ensure the capital is prepared for future disruptive challenges. (more…)
June 18, 2021
Paradoxically, more in-person work environments and the concentration of jobs in cities could be a medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic’s shift to remote working, suggests Citi GPS Technology at Work: The Coming of the Post-Production Society, a report produced by Citi and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. The report cites the automation of manufacturing and clerical tasks alongside the potential for professional services jobs that can be done remotely to be done cheaper overseas as the start of a foundational shift in developed economies. The future of work in these countries, it suggests, could be based largely on innovation, exploration and creative thinking which require face-to-face interaction and geographic proximity. (more…)
June 15, 2021
Women’s average working hours have taken a far smaller hit during the pandemic than men’s, with women who do not have children now working longer hours than ever before – in marked contrast to predictions of a ‘shecession’ at the start of the pandemic, according to new research by the Resolution Foundation. (more…)
May 19, 2021
A report published by single parent charity, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Employment Studies highlights how the world of work simply doesn’t work for single parents and warns things are set to get worse before they get better – putting even more single parent families at risk of poverty and creating a two-tier society, with single parents firmly at the bottom. (more…)
September 20, 2021
The four day week won’t necessarily help us cope with workplace stress
by Abigail Marks • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing