February 22, 2024
Businesses will be urged to tackle in-work sickness and stop people falling out the workforce, following the appointment of Dame Carol Black as the Government’s new Occupational Health Tsar. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, she will lead a new Taskforce to improve employer awareness of the benefits of Occupational Health in the workplace. (more…)
February 20, 2024
The British Safety Council has published an introductory guide for employers to help them manage risks posed by storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace. Most e-bikes are powered by Lithium Ion (Li-on) batteries, larger versions of the kind found in our smartphones, tablets, and some laptops. (more…)
February 15, 2024
Helsinki City Council has voted to provide a donation of 60 million euros to the foundation responsible for establishing the new national museum of architecture and design. The Finnish state will match this funding, with an additional 30 million euros to be raised from private donations. With these commitments in place, an international design competition for the new museum building will be launched in April. The new museum will sit at the heart of a new pedestrian-friendly district in Helsinki’s South Harbour. (more…)
February 8, 2024
European employee benefits platform, Club Employés, has partnered with embedded finance specialists, Weavr, to power a debit card solution for employee benefits, which gives employees the power to pick the perks they prefer. By expanding access to relevant benefits through the capabilities of embedded finance, employees are more likely to engage with the benefits provided by their employers. (more…)
February 7, 2024
The UK government has announced details of its new Disability Action Plan which includes 32 steps it claims will make the UK the most accessible place in the world for disabled people to ‘live, work and thrive’. The publication of the Disability Action Plan is part of the government’s stated intention to improve the lives of millions of disabled people. This has included seeing 1.3 million more disabled people in work now than in 2017, which the government claims is delivering a commitment five years early. (more…)
February 7, 2024
Around 60 percent of managers believe that an element of luck has played a significant part in shaping their careers, according to new research by emlyon business school. Respondents stated that this luck typically came through a chance event, which could be positive or negative, but either way had a huge impact on their career. (more…)
February 6, 2024
The French data protection watchdog CNIL has fined Amazon France Logistique €32m, equivalent to 3 percent of the entity’s annual turnover, approaching the maximum permitted level of 4 percent. Describing Amazon’s employee surveillance as “excessive”, the regulator also cited instances where the monitoring of staff was found to be outright illegal, by breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). (more…)
February 1, 2024
The vast majority of Chief Information Officers plan to increase AI tool spending in 2024, but say their teams are overwhelmed by the number of apps on the market. As a result, 77 percent are concerned about application sprawl adding to their complexity and security risks. That is according to a new report from Canva which includes insights from more than 1,360 CIOs on their priorities, opportunities and the challenges of managing their IT amid the AI boom. The company commissioned Harris Poll to survey CIOs from the UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Australia to understand how they’re managing application sprawl and making decisions about workplace tools in the AI era. (more…)
January 18, 2024
The Sustainable Design Collective (SDC) – a think tank of leading design professionals working in the office workplace sector – has opened entries for its annual awards. The announcement follows confirmation of the dates for the second SD Forum to be held on 25th April at the Crypt on the Green in Clerkenwell, London. Free to enter, the Awards are designed to champion ‘best practice’ and highlight innovations leading to greater sustainability within the office workplace. There are three categories: New build and retrofit projects; New products and materials; Innovation including new services or IT solutions as well as collaborations with not-for-profit organisations. (more…)
January 17, 2024
The proportion of CEOs who believe global economic growth will improve over the next 12-months has more than doubled. At the same time, the proportion of CEOs concerned about their long-term business viability has risen to 45 percent as tech and climate pressures accelerate, according to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey. However the survey, published to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum jamboree in Davos, also reports that artificial intelligence will result in dramatic job losses in 2024 and beyond. A quarter intend to cut their headcounts by at least five percent “due to generative AI. (more…)
January 16, 2024
Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Smart phones provide a palm-size window to the world, enabling us to do almost anything at the touch of a button. Smart homes look after themselves, and virtual meetings mean that for many, time spent commuting is a thing of the past. So we should have more free time. Time which is now spent sleeping, relaxing or simply doing nothing – right? (more…)
January 30, 2024
Workplace design and the corrective force of rediscovery
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design