October 26, 2018
Flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific outpaces global markets
The flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific has been the fastest growing in the world over the past 12 months, according to a new study from Instant Offices. Supply of flex centres in the regions key cities has grown consistently above 15 percent with the only inhibitor to growth being a lack of available space for expansion. Supply of flex space increased by 16 percent over the last year with an estimated 8,600 centres now providing flexible office solutions across the APAC region. This influx of capital to the flex market, alongside increasing levels of demand from clients for flexible offices, has enabled rapid expansion in a short period of time. Of the 10 largest global markets for flexible office space, which incorporates co-working, executive suites, serviced offices and hybrid space, six now fall within Asia Pacific.
London’s office market continues to attract occupiers and investors, despite political and economic uncertainty JLL’s recent Central London offices seminar revealed. The event highlighted the strength of the capital’s office market where Central London has seen sustained levels of both leasing and investment activity so far in 2018 and JLL anticipates that the final numbers will match, if not exceed those recorded in 2017. Take-up of offices across Central London reached 8.3m sq ft at the end of Q3 2018, with 3.1m sq ft leased in the West End and 4.5m sq ft in the City.
Despite political and economic uncertainly and the aftermath of the global monetary crisis in 2008, London remains a leading global financial centre, with nearly a quarter (24 percent) of the capital’s office take-up attributed to banking and finance occupiers over the last ten years. London is by far the most active banking centre in Europe, according to the latest research from global real estate advisor CBRE. According to the report, 1.1 million people were employed in the UK financial services sector in 2017, of which 34 percent were in London. 
Under half (47 percent) of British managers ‘completely agree’ that they would recommend their workplace to others, lagging behind other countries, such as Austria (66 percent), Finland (53 percent), Switzerland (53 percent), and France (51 percent). This is according to a Cornerstone OnDemand and IDC survey of over 1,900 European HR, IT and line of business managers, 
More than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. 
The vast majority (98 percent) of UK employees think learning is essential in deciding to stay or leave their employer, yet new research claims that three quarters (75 percent) of companies don’t have a learning culture and 66 percent don’t have a digital learning strategy. The research from Bridge in collaboration with Two Heads Consulting, finds that most businesses in the UK are struggling to engender a culture that prioritises learning and development with only 25 percent of HR staff saying their organisations have a learning culture. In comparison, three quarters of companies don’t have one at all (11 percent), are still trying to establish one (59 percent) or report it is not a priority (5 percent). Furthermore, despite recognising its importance, 60 percent of UK companies don’t measure the impact of learning on business performance. Employees also complain that their performance reviews are ill thought out and infrequent.
Almost half (49 percent) of UK workers are in jobs they are either under- or over-skilled for, according to new research from the CIPD. Its report ‘Over-skilled and underused: Investigating the untapped potential of UK skills’ surveyed 3,700 UK employees and found that more than a third (37 percent) of workers have the skills to cope with more demanding duties than they currently have. At the opposite end of the scale, one in ten (12 percent) employees said they lacked all the skills needed to carry out their job effectively. This means that as many as half (49 percent) of UK workers could be in the wrong job, based on their skill level. The UK has one of most skilled workforces in the world, with 42 percent of workers qualified to degree level, yet it also has the highest proportion of jobs within the OECD which require no qualifications at all.
