Search Results for: london

December 7, 2018

Seven reasons why this will not be the office of the future

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

At this time of year, it seems like we don’t have to wait more than a few hours before some or other organisation is sharing its prognosis about how we will be working in the future. The thing these reports usually share in common, other than a standardised variant of a title and a common lexicon of agility, engagement and connectivity, is a narrow focus based on their key assumptions about what the office of the future will be like. While these are rarely false per se, and often offer valuable insights, they also frequently exhibit a desire to look at only one part of the great workplace elephant. While the more informed reports make excellent points and identify trends, across most there are routine flaws in thinking that can lead them to make narrow and sometimes incorrect assumptions and so draw similarly flawed conclusions. Talk of the office of the future tells us rather a lot about how we view offices right now.

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December 6, 2018

Groundbreaking study links productivity to air quality

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Wellbeing

A new study of UK indoor office environments has found a direct correlation between the quality of the air in offices and its effect on workplace productivity. The two-year research initiative, backed by facilities company EMCOR and carried out by academics at Oxford Brookes University and LCMB Building Performance found that workers were able to work up to 60 percent faster in lower CO2 concentrations. It revealed that an increased intake of CO2 can lead to poor decision making, slower reaction times and increased tiredness among employees. Currently, UK productivity is 26.2 percent lower than Germany based on GDP per hour worked – and 22.8 percent less than France. Yet despite ten years of tactics to help close the gap, this is the first time environmental factors have been considered. (more…)

December 6, 2018

Asia increasingly challenging economic hegemony of western cities

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News

Oxford Economics has published its annual Global Cities research report projecting the shifting landscape of the world’s leading cities from 2019 to 2035. It examine which major cities will be the urban superpowers of the future and which are poised for the most rapid expansions of their economies, populations and business heft. Its main finding is that Asia’s cities, especially those in India such as Surat (pictured) and Agra are making huge strides, although New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles and London stay as the metropolitan superpowers. New York maintains pole position while Tokyo falls below Los Angeles and London in the ranking. (more…)

December 5, 2018

The war for talent is over and we need to face up to new opportunities and challenges

by David Corcoran • Comment, Workplace

The ‘War for Talent’ is a concept which has dominated the industry for the last twenty years and has shaped how many organisations view talent acquisition around the world. But perhaps this war is already over. As initially reported by McKinsey & Company in 1998, the war for talent explored the challenges businesses face when attracting, retaining and developing talent. While talent acquisition is a fundamental foundation for any business looking to grow, after twenty years, recent studies have reported a seismic shift from this ‘War for Talent’ to a ‘War for Skills.’

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December 4, 2018

I’m a designer and I job share with an AI

by Ceilidh Higgins • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Thomas Edison is credited with the phrase “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration” and I believe there is no field where this applies more than architecture and design. So often people assume that interior design is such a fun, creative job – that it’s all about drawing, colours and furniture, something like being paid to colour in and shop – when today being a designer is just as much about people management, psychology, project management, documentation, checking codes and standards and managing contracts. It’s also often about a culture that expects long hours and being always available to the job. “It’s not work when you are passionate about it?” is common. But what if instead we could all work less hours and job share with our computers?

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November 28, 2018

Line up of speakers announced for Workplace Trends: Research Spring Summit

by Maggie Procopi • Events, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The research-driven Workplace Trends Spring Summit returns for 2019. We have two sessions with invited guest speakers, our keynote and the after lunch debate. Following a recent Call for Abstracts and a blind peer review by our two moderators for the day, Nigel Oseland (Workplace Unlimited) and Mark Eltringham (Workplace Insight), the remaining sessions have now been filled with the highest ranked submissions.

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November 28, 2018

Generation Z are more motivated by job satisfaction than money

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Generation Z, the latest generation to enter the workforce, are more likely to be motivated by job satisfaction and working for social good than by money, a new report claims According to new research from Huawei, in partnership with Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation at Goldsmiths, University of London, based on responses from 2,000 18-25-year olds’ across the UK, also reveals that a new tribe of working professionals among Gen Z is emerging, the ‘New Working Order’. (more…)

November 27, 2018

Meaningful work an important driver of health and wellbeing for men

by Mark Eltringham • News, Wellbeing

Men’s care brand Harry’s has published the findings from their first US Masculinity Report in partnership with University College London psychologist John Barry, co-founder of the male psychology section of the British Psychological Society. The report surveyed 5,000 men aged 18-95 across the US, weighted for race, income, education, sexual orientation and other factors. Respondents were asked about their wellbeing, happiness, confidence, emotional stability, motivation, optimism, and sense of being in control. They were then asked how satisfied they are with their careers, relationships, money, work-life balance, physicality, and mental health. The reports key finding was the strong correlation between wellbeing and meaningful work.

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November 26, 2018

The meaning of life, the Black Mirror of Beijing, standing desks not a silver bullet and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

So, what is the meaning of life? According to a study by Pew, the gold standard US based researchers, it’s spending time with family and friends, reading, listening to music and going for a walk in the open air. Work comes somewhere down the list. Just one-third of the survey’s respondents mentioned their career or job as a source of meaning, and only a quarter cite finances or money. This, it turns out, is not too far off Monty Python’s conclusion in their eponymous film: Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations. That’s that sorted then.

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November 23, 2018

Communities are the key factor to rapid growth of coworking

by Petr Boruta • Comment, Coworking, Property, Workplace design

London, New York, Los Angeles. These are top three cities in number of coworking centres globally. But as coworking map is evolving rapidly, you might as well read about Warsaw and Prague as new hotbeds for shared offices soon. And the surprising reason behind that is not flexibility, but the power of communities.

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November 22, 2018

Demand by investors for UK commercial property remains strong

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

The level of demand for UK commercial property remains strong, despite continued lack of clarity over Brexit. According to the latest GVA review of commercial property investment market, European investors were more risk averse to the UK market because of the uncertainty caused by Brexit but demand from overseas investors, particular from China and the Far East, strengthened in 2018. Domestic investors have also made a ‘come-back’ to the UK market and have accounted for approximately 12 percent more acquisitions in 2018, compared to the previous year. In the North East, the lack of availability of investment property is one of the biggest factors affecting growth and there remains strong competition, particularly for prime well let assets. Regardless of political uncertainty, the fundamentals of the UK commercial property market will continue to make it an attractive place to invest, with London remaining the number one priority target of investors outside of Europe. Overall, the report concludes, the UK commercial property market will remain attractive with the exception of retail.

November 21, 2018

Career opportunities with SMEs are growing, but graduates not convinced

by Sara Bean • Cities, News, Workplace

Small and mid-sized businesses have hired three times more people than larger businesses over the past five years and could overtake large companies by 2030, according to new analysis of the latest ONS data commissioned by Santander Business Banking. However, separate research commissioned by the bank has found that significant numbers of young people are failing to recognise the significant job opportunities that SMEs offer. Just a third (35 percent) of Generation Z and Millennials leaving full time education say they wish to work for an SME, while an even smaller proportion, just one in six (18 percent), want to work for a start-up or micro business. (more…)