Search Results for: opportunities

Economy could achieve significant economic boost by addressing skills gaps in younger people

Economy could achieve significant economic boost by addressing skills gaps in younger people

The UK could boost GDP by around £40 billion a year in the long run if it reduces the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) to match Germany, the best performing EU country. Despite making improvements in recent years, the UK only ranks 19th out of 35 countries across the OECD on a PwC index based on a range of indicators of youth employment, education and training. But this is slightly better than the UK’s ranking of 21st across the OECD on a similar PwC index for older workers released earlier this year. Across England NEET rates vary significantly, reflecting the disparity in educational attainment and job opportunities across the country. In 2017, the West Midlands had the highest NEET rate for 19-24 year olds at 16.7 percent, followed by the North East by 16.3 percent. Meanwhile the South East and South West have the lowest rates, both at 11.5 percent (see table below). (more…)

OECD, UN Environment and World Bank call for a radical shift in infrastructure thinking

OECD, UN Environment and World Bank call for a radical shift in infrastructure thinking

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group have this week called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change. Delivering a new report, Financing Climate Futures: Rethinking Infrastructure, to the G20 at its Summit in Buenos Aires, the three International Organisations said governments need to adopt a more transformative agenda on low-carbon, climate-resilient investments if they are to meet the Paris Agreement goal of cutting CO2emissions to net zero in the second half of the century and build resilience to climate change.

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2019 will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem, claims Dell

2019 will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem, claims Dell

Dell Technologies have shared their predictions for 2019. Its central forecast is that this will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem, bringing us one step closer to 2030, which Dell describes as the next era of human-machine partnerships and a society where we will be immersed in smart living, intelligent work, and a frictionless economy. This includes: The spark of the next gold rush in tech investments, spurred by the greater value to be derived from data; 5G paving the way for micro-hubs to line our streets, and the opportunity for real-time insights; Multi-cloud environments driving automation, AI and ML processing into high gear; Making room in the workforce for Gen Z; and stronger, smarter and greener supply chains

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

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

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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Communities are the key factor to rapid growth of coworking

Communities are the key factor to rapid growth of coworking

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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UK on target to reach one million women working in STEM fields by 2020

UK on target to reach one million women working in STEM fields by 2020

According to new research by WISE, the campaign for gender balance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the UK is on track to have one million women working in core STEM roles by 2020. The research shows that there are over 900,000 women working in STEM currently and an estimated 200,000 women with STEM qualifications will reach working age within the next 2 years. The news was announced at WISE 2018 Awards presented by the Patron of WISE, HRH, The Princess Royal.

 

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Organisations with supportive approach most likely to attract talent

Organisations with supportive approach most likely to attract talent

Employers must raise their offering to meet the demands of millennials, as they reach a pivotal time in their careers and demand their employers stand for a purpose. This is according to the 2018 Organisational Wellbeing & Talent Insights Report from Gallagher which finds that to have any impact with this audience, organisations must demonstrate a strong employer value proposition. This is essentially, ‘how you want to be seen’; a set of values lived by workers, driven from the top down. The best organisations match these goals by becoming ‘destination employers’ that are able to win over talent with a more supportive approach. (more…)

A cheap day return to Farringdon, please

A cheap day return to Farringdon, please

Timing is everything. Re-launching a professional body while the country’s politics unceremoniously implode could not have been foreseen, but the vacuous space was full of the registered and invited, many with a trail of string going back a few decades or more. What a lovely gathering of old friends it was. On Monday 12th The BIFM formally changed its name to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management. This event was to reveal the new creative collateral and celebrate the optimism/excitement/apprehension (delete as applicable).

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More needs to be done to bridge the digital gender divide, says OECD

More needs to be done to bridge the digital gender divide, says OECD

Barriers to access, education and skills, as well as ingrained socio-cultural biases, are driving a digital gender divide that is holding back women’s participation in the digital economy, according to a new OECD report. Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Include, Upskill, Innovate says women are not currently empowered to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. While G20 economies have taken important actions to narrow gender gaps in general, more needs to be done to increase the participation of women and girls in the digital economy so that they too can contribute to and benefit from the digital transformation that is under way.

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Are you ready for the world of agile working we will experience in the 2020s?

Are you ready for the world of agile working we will experience in the 2020s?

Some organisations believe they have ‘done’ Agile Working. They have increased the ratio of people to desks and achieved a saving in accommodation costs. They have provided flexible working arrangements across the organisation and have enabled their people to work at home for part of their working week. Staff surveys show employees are pleased with the opportunities and benefits this provides them. But organisations cannot afford to become comfortable or complacent, there are greater opportunities to grasp. As in any transformation initiative, Agile Working is more than a project it is a cultural journey involving continuing change to achieve continuous improvement. Agile Working is moving on.

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New Acas guide to performance management for staff with disabilities

New Acas guide to performance management for staff with disabilities

New Acas guidance on performance management for staff with disabilitiesOnly one in four organisations have adapted performance management processes to consider staff with disabilities and special needs, including conditions such as dyslexia and autism. These are the findings of research carried out by Acas which has today published new advice to address the issue. The research report entitled ‘Improvement required?’ included a survey, which asked employers about performance management systems within their workplaces. The study found that one in ten employers said that their performance management system was demotivating for staff; and only one in ten employers said that their systems were used for planning and monitoring training and development.

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Gen Z are technologically literate but not actually robots, Dell study confirms

Gen Z are technologically literate but not actually robots, Dell study confirms

Generation Z is entering the workforce, bringing with it a tech-first mentality that will propel businesses further into the digital era while potentially deepening the divide among five generations in the workplace. According to global research commissioned by Dell Technologies, post-millennials – those born after 1996 and known as Gen Z – have a deep, universal understanding of technology and its potential to transform how we work and live.

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