September 24, 2021
According to Bupa Global’s Executive Wellbeing Index 2021, UK business leaders are predicted to increase their spend on employee mental health and wellbeing by 18 percent in the coming year, among the highest rates in the world-wide study. More →
September 23, 2021
Research from Omnipresent, in partnership with Remote Social, claims that four in 10 employers (40 percent) feel that COVID-19 has positively or extremely positively impacted employee retention. In contrast, less than a quarter (24 percent) feel that it has negatively or extremely negatively impacted this area. The survey considered the views of 250 HR managers and C-Suite professionals across the UK. More →
September 22, 2021
New research released by Ricoh Europe claims that employers are failing to invest in technology to maintain productivity across their remote workforce, despite concerns about their output. More than 18 months since the Coronavirus pandemic took hold across Europe, forcing businesses to adopt remote working practices, just over a third (36 percent) of employers say their organisation has provided the tools and technology to maintain employee productivity while working from any location. More →
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 →
September 21, 2021
Predicting behaviours in the commercial property market is never an easy thing, yet we know that the pandemic has drastically altered this market. Whilst some players have advocated ‘the end is nigh’ for all office space, research shows a different picture emerging – namely the office space as we know it is evolving into something different. The impact of prolonged uncertainty has fuelled change. However, there are other forces at work shaping a brighter and more varied future for office space. More →
September 21, 2021
Poly has released research findings that claims to expose our ‘hybrid working secrets’. The survey, which was made up of 4,000 hybrid workers from the UK, France, and Germany, shines a light into new working behaviours and habits on and off camera. The findings suggest people may be suffering from ‘Home Comfort Syndrome’ as the lines between home and work blur. More →
September 20, 2021
Scotland is to become the latest nation to trial a four-day working week, after the SNP government announced it was setting up a £10 million fund to enable some office businesses to cut workers’ hours without reducing their pay. Similar trials are underway in Ireland and Spain, following on from trials in Iceland several years ago. Some firms have also been experimenting with a four day week, while other nations such as Japan are encouraging their employers to think about it too. More →
September 17, 2021
New research into workplace discrimination, commissioned by CIPHR, claims just how widespread employment bias is in the UK. On average, one in six people (16 percent) report having suffered ageism, one in ten (10 percent) say they have been the subject of gender-based discrimination (12 percent of women and 7 percent of men), and around one in twelve feel that they have been on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment because of a disability, their race or sexual orientation (9 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively), at some point in their careers. More →
September 16, 2021
Fellowes Brands, has announced the results of its survey of over 6,000 employees across Europe, 1,000 of which are from the UK, claiming nine in ten (91 percent) of all European employees and 89 percent of UK employees say satisfaction is important to them in their workspace, regardless of whether working location is at the corporate office or the home office. Moreover, 88 percent of UK employees say satisfaction improves their productivity by more than 25 percent. More →
September 10, 2021
I recently stumbled upon the phrase epistemic trespass, which describes the phenomenon of people making judgements in fields in which they have no expertise. I came across it as it was used to explain the sudden explosion of opinions about Afghanistan from a hitherto unknown horde of experts. Which may or may not be the same horde that has been so very certain about immunology and public health during the pandemic. It’s an old idea and one that needs to be treated with care, for reasons set out by Noah Smith here. But it is useful in some ways because we all recognise the phenomenon and how social media amplifies it. More →
September 9, 2021
While lower occupancy has reduced the carbon footprint of many commercial office buildings amid the pandemic, higher CO2 emissions from hybrid working significantly outstrips these declines, according to data analysed by Cushman & Wakefield’s sustainability team. More →
September 23, 2021
Resilient companies need the trust of their employees more than ever
by Kate Field • Comment, Workplace