Search Results for: opportunities

Vienna ranks highest for quality of living, but emerging cities doing more to attract mobile talent

Vienna ranks highest for quality of living, but emerging cities doing more to attract mobile talent

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

Cities in emerging markets, though challenged by economic and political turmoil, are catching up with top ranking cities following decades of investing in infrastructure, recreational facilities and housing in order to attract talent and multinational businesses, finds Mercer’s 20th annual Quality of Living survey. Meanwhile, many of Europe’s cities still offer the world’s highest quality of living and continue to remain attractive destinations for expatriates on assignment, despite economic volatility due to uncertainty around Brexit and increased political volatility in the region overall. Vienna tops the ranking for the 9th year running and is followed by Zurich (2), Auckland and Munich in joint 3rd place. In 5th place Vancouver completes the top five and is the highest ranking city in North America. Singapore (25) and Montevideo (77) are the highest-ranking cities in Asia and Latin America respectively.  London – the highest ranked UK city – scores top marks in areas like access to public transport, and the variety and quality of theatres and restaurants, but has lower scores for air pollution and traffic congestion.

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Rigid cultures, lack of vision and poor tech are main barriers to workplace agility

Rigid cultures, lack of vision and poor tech are main barriers to workplace agility

by • News, Technology

A new study commissioned by Ricoh Europe claims to reveal the factors that European business leaders believe are keeping them from achieving workplace agility. The list is topped by regulation (39 percent), lack of investment in new technologies (37 percent) and inescapably rigid internal hierarchies (35 percent) according to the 2,140 business leaders surveyed. These barriers limit what the report calls ‘the fluid, agile nature of a digitally empowered workplace that enables companies to quickly capitalise on changes in the market’.

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Equal Lives survey to look at ways men can better balance work and home life

Equal Lives survey to look at ways men can better balance work and home life

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

Equal Lives survey to look at ways men can better balance work and homeThe challenge to achieve gender equality at work isn’t made any easier by the attitudes of some employers. Although men increasingly want to be more present at home, currently fathers are twice as likely as mothers to have their requests for flexible working turned down. This means their work-life balance is increasingly a source of stress. For this reason a new survey is being launched to look at men’s roles at home and work with the hope that the results will support employers to help men take up more equal caring roles.The Equal Lives project, launched by Business in the Community in partnership with Santander UK, aims to highlight the issues men face when managing responsibilities at work and home and identify workplace practices and policies to help employers retain skilled male and female employees. The study is open to all men in work over 18, regardless of whether they have people who depend on them for their wellbeing. It is also open to women in work, but only those with care responsibilities.

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Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

by • Architecture, Facilities management, Legal news, News, Property, Workplace

Women working in construction sector three times more likely to miss out on promotion

The built environment still has some way to go to achieve gender parity a new report suggests, as women in construction are paid up to 45 percent less than men and are three times more likely to miss out on promotion than men due to perceived gender discrimination. According to the survey by Randstad of more than 5,500 construction workers and 540 employers across all job functions and levels – 75 percent of those passed over for a more senior role were women compared to 25 percent men. The findings  suggests women in the industry typically are not being given the same opportunities to progress as their male counterparts even though almost every respondent (93 percent) said having a female manager either wouldn’t affect their way of working or would in fact have a positive impact. (more…)

UK women still feel held back by motherhood and flexible work penalty

UK women still feel held back by motherhood and flexible work penalty

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Four in ten (44 percent) women in the UK feel nervous about the impact starting a family might have on their career and 48 percent of new mothers felt overlooked for promotions and special projects upon their return to work. This is according to a new PwC report, launched to mark International Women’s Day, which surveyed over 3,600 professional women (293 in the UK) across different sectors to find out about their career development experiences and aspirations. The report claims that UK women still perceive a motherhood and flexibility penalty in the workplace. Over a third (36 percent) surveyed say they feel that taking advantage of work life balance and flexibility programmes has negative career consequences. The report – Time to talk: what has to change for women at work – claims that women are confident, ambitious and ready for what’s next, but many don’t trust what their employers are telling them about career development and promotion.

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Productivity, retention and employee wellbeing improve when there is workplace trust

Productivity, retention and employee wellbeing improve when there is workplace trust

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Quarter of employees have left their jobs because of a lack of trust

Being in a reliable work environment increases retention, productivity and employee wellbeing, while also promoting a better business culture, finds new research from Bupa. An examination of workplace trust and the impact on employee wellbeing reveals that over half (53 per cent) of employees considered it to be a major factor in whether they stayed or left a company. The research found that nearly a quarter of UK employees (24 per cent) have left their company due to issues around trust. Although trust is not a tangible workplace benefits, such as salary and bonuses, it is an essential variable in promoting harmony and productivity within an organisation and the study suggests how important it is within the workplace, and also the contribution it makes to the wellbeing of employees and the overall performance of a company. The study also asked employees how trust compares to other company benefits. Nearly two thirds (62 per cent) believe that trust is more important than a gym membership or company mobile, while over half value it more than a free canteen (56 per cent) and company car (55 per cent).

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BIFM to change its name to reflect greater focus on workplace issues and pursue chartered status

BIFM to change its name to reflect greater focus on workplace issues and pursue chartered status

by • Facilities management, News

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) has today announced plans to embrace ‘workplace’ as a key ‘differentiator’ for its members and to help establish facilities management as a chartered profession. The manifesto for change announced by BIFM Chair Stephen Roots, sets out to ‘reposition facilities management, emphasising its ability to make a real contribution to organisations’ performance’. It sets the Institute the ‘twin tasks of helping members to improve their skills and their status to meet the needs of modern organisations, and to raise the profile of facilities management and the understanding of the value it contributes’. The proposed new name is the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM).

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Report outlines the impact of universities on regional economies and entrepreneurship

Report outlines the impact of universities on regional economies and entrepreneurship

by • News, Public Sector

Although universities contribute to one in every hundred new business births in the UK, but 35 percent of universities did not contribute to the production of a single graduate start-up last year, according to a new report from Localis. It claims that while there are pockets of excellence in the way universities support enterprise and entrepreneurship across the country, too many of them are doing too little. Published in partnership with University College London (UCL) and the University of Huddersfield (UoH), the report explores what more can be done to encourage university entrepreneurial activity and its role in local economies.

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The key to tackling future economic challenges is to harness the ageing workforce

The key to tackling future economic challenges is to harness the ageing workforce

by • News, Workplace

Providing American seniors with better work incentives and opportunities will be crucial for the United States to meet the challenges of its rapidly ageing population. By 2028, more than one in five Americans will be aged 65 and over, up from fewer than one in six today, according to a new OECD report. Working Better with Age and Fighting Unequal Ageing in the United States finds that employment rates among older workers in the United States are above the average across OECD countries. In 2016, 62 percent of all 55-64 year olds were employed compared with the OECD average of 59 percent. However, employment rates are much lower among the ageing workforce. Early retirement is prevalent among workers from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds, often occurring as soon as Social Security benefits become available at age 62. Poverty among seniors is a challenge: more than 20 percent of peopled aged 65 and over have incomes below the relative poverty line – defined as half of the median disposable household income – compared with the OECD average of less than 13 percent.

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Countries with greater gender equality have a smaller proportion of women taking STEM degrees

Countries with greater gender equality have a smaller proportion of women taking STEM degrees

by • News, Workplace

Countries with greater gender equality see a smaller proportion of women taking degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a new study by Leeds Beckett University and published in the Psychological Science Journal has found. The research found that countries such as Albania and Algeria have a greater percentage of women amongst their STEM graduates than countries lauded for their high levels of gender equality, such as Finland, Norway or Sweden. The researchers, from Leeds Beckett’s School of Social Sciences and the University of Missouri, believe this might be because countries with less gender equality often have little welfare support, making the choice of a relatively highly-paid STEM career more attractive.

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Finance workers are amongst most stressed people in the world

Finance workers are amongst most stressed people in the world

by • News, Wellbeing

Finance workers in the UK are among the most stressed in the world, according to a study by Robert Half UK. The survey of 2000 people including 200 senior finance managers claims that 78 percent of Chief Financial Officers in the UK believe stress levels will rise in the next two years, with over a third (31 percent) saying they would grow significantly. CFOs believe that increased workloads (51 percent), growing business expectations (49 percent) and a lack of staff (40 percent) will send stress levels soaring.

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Skills gaps will increase this year and shortages will worsen following Brexit, predict employers

Skills gaps will increase this year and shortages will worsen following Brexit, predict employers

by • News, Workplace

Skills shortages to increase this year and get worse following Brexit, predict employersHalf of employers believe that Brexit will worsen the UK skills gap and nearly a quarter (23 percent) believe that Britain is not prepared to compete on the global stage, which will become even more important following the UK’s exit from the European Union in 2019. These are the findings of a research paper entitled “Solving the UK Skills Shortage” from Rober Walters, totaljobs and Jobsite which claims that almost two thirds of employers (65 percent) believe that they will be negatively impacted by skills shortages in 2018, with this shortage predicted to be most acute at junior and mid management level according to over half (52 percent) of employers. According to the research, employers may have to look to different industries to find the transferable skills that are essential to grow. This means that there will be more opportunities for skilled candidates to use their knowledge and experience in different sectors, providing them with new challenges and opportunities in industries that they may not have considered before.

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