November 14, 2018
Quarter of UK workforce have turned down a job for not offering flexible working
A new study claims that UK workers of all ages have shown a demand for flexible working. According to the research of 2,300 people commissioned by communications technology firm TeleWare, employees are actively turning down jobs that don’t offer flexible working. A quarter of all employees have turned down a job in the past for this reason. Whilst a further third (31 percent) would actively do so. Although the proportion of those that have done so is higher amongst millennials (40 percent), three in 10 (29 percent) employees over 45 would turn down a job if flexible working options were not on offer. (more…)
A sudden reversal in the growth in the number of both EU and non-EU migrants in employment in the UK could hit employer plans to take on more staff and worsen skills and labour shortages, according to the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD and The Adecco Group. While the net employment balance – a measure of the difference between the proportion of employers who expect to increase staff levels and those who expect to decrease staff levels – has remained extremely positive at +22 (compared to +23 in Q3 2018), among employers which currently have vacancies, seven in ten (70 percent) report that at least some of their vacancies are proving hard-to-fill, higher than in Summer 2018 (66 percent) and Spring 2018 (61 percent). 
Figures from Macmillan show that almost 900,000 people of working age (16-64) are living with cancer – a figure expected to rise to over a million by 2030, while the HSE disclosed 600,000 workers needed time off in the past year due to suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Men are notoriously bad at checking their health but according to Bupa an increasing spotlight on issues such as prostate cancer and testicular cancer earlier this year led to an increase in male health assessment bookings. In March 2018, Bupa saw a 28 percent uplift in male health assessment bookings compared to the same time last year, and a 43 percent year-on-year increase in April 2018. But according to the healthcare provider, employers must more efforts to help create a culture where male workers can open up about mental or physical problems.
Over half of home workers say they appreciate the benefits that home working offers but nearly a quarter complain of loneliness too, a new survey from BHSF claims. When asked how working from home makes them feel, the top three responses were: free (50 percent), in control (47 percent) and calm (46 percent). However, a significant number of those surveyed chose more negative words to describe their feelings. Just over a quarter (26 percent) said that working from home made them feel remote, 24 percent felt isolated and 21 percent lonely. 
November 13, 2018
Fostering creativity within organisations through space and culture
by Serena Borghero • Comment, Workplace design
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