February 15, 2018
SMEs spend more time searching for private offices than coworking space
Searches for private offices have become more popular than coworking space among SMEs over the past year, according to new data from commercial property marketplace Hubble. The firm reports that this marks a reversal from the previous year’s results, although searches for coworking space remain disproportionately high compared to the overall office market. According to Hubble, searches for private offices grew an average of 40 percent month-on-month from January 2017 to January 2018, with 43 percent more searches being made for private offices over coworking space, and searches for the category ‘private office’ comprising 62 percent of all searches on the Hubble platform.
The UK has been ranked as the eighth best country in the world for the ability to attract, retain, train and educate skilled workers, but while its ability to leverage diversity for talent competitiveness is boosted by its global knowledge skills – the UK is undermined by its weaker performance on tolerance and gender equality. According to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index GTCI) produced by the Adecco Group, with international business school INSEAD and Tata Communications, the UK has a particularly strong pool of global knowledge skills, a variable for which it is ranked third in the index boosted further by its strong regulatory, market and business landscape. But this is undermined by its internal openness, where it still lags behind, especially when it comes to gender equality. The report also suggests that although Article 50 was triggered in 2017, the ongoing negotiations and continuing lack of clarity over the UK’s position once it leaves the European Union in 2019, means the impact of Brexit is not yet clear.
Half of SMEs (50 percent) questioned in a new survey have changed the way that they recruit their staff as a result of Brexit. The Albion Growth Report 2017 of more than 1,000 SMEs suggests that for businesses which have changed their strategy as a result of Brexit, 15 percent have decreased recruitment resources, 10 percent have begun recruiting in different ways and 9 percent have made redundancies. A difficulty in finding skilled staff is one of the biggest barriers to growth, behind broader political uncertainty and cash flow, which the research claims could lead to a potential war for talent which is likely to become more intense in the post-Brexit environment. By contrast, SMEs view difficulty in finding unskilled staff as the least significant barrier to growth. The report finds that nearly two thirds (65 percent) of SMEs believe their business lacks expertise. More than a quarter (26 percent) of businesses lack marketing talent, followed by business planning (19 percent), IT (17 percent), and software developers and technology specialists (17 percent). Despite critical skills deficits, only a third of SMEs (33 percent) are currently hiring new employees.
February 12, 2018
Luther, Marx, Engels and a nailed-on manifesto for workplace change
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design
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