January 26, 2021

Remote work continues to impact physical and mental health of workers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

New research from Fellowes Brands claims to reveal the ‘alarming’ impact enforced remote work is having on the mental wellbeing and physical health of the nation. Over a third (35 percent) of UK workers admit feeling stressed or anxious, lonely and isolated (32 percent) and tired or lacking in energy (38 percent), while working from home during lockdown. The study is based on a survey of 1,000 UK office workers who had worked from home for at least four months. (more…)

January 22, 2021

Two in five Brits are at risk of cyber-attacks whilst working from home

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report by Fasthosts claims that cyber criminals have identified remote workers as easy targets with two in five employees having not received any caution regarding COVID-19 scams whilst working from home or had any video-call security training. (more…)

January 21, 2021

Hybrid working gives managers the chance to excel

by Paul Jewitt-Harris • Comment, Flexible working

The past year will go down in history as one of dramatic change. One of the most notable upheavals was the almost overnight transition to full-time remote working for millions of ‘non-essential’ employees. With England now in its third national lockdown, many of us will likely not be going back to our offices until April 2021, over a year since we left them. Even when people are able to return to our old workplaces, just 12 percent of employees want to do so full-time, according to Future Forum. This leaves no doubt that, when we are finally able to leave the pandemic behind us, hybrid working (partially from home and partially in the office) will remain. (more…)

December 18, 2020

Working from home stresses have had the greatest impact on women

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A review of research in organisational and workplace psychology conducted by an international team of academics claims that working from home has been more disruptive for women than men. The review paper, entitled COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action and originally published in American Psychologist, features urgent insight from UCL School of Management Professor, Sunny Lee into the sex- and gender-related implications of changes in work practices that have taken place over the course of 2020. (more…)

December 10, 2020

Tech industry employees three times more stressed working from home than others

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Unify Square, the services provider for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack platforms, has released survey results around remote collaboration and communication among enterprises. The survey highlights key perspectives of enterprise employees on workplace collaboration and communication in the midst of the global pandemic. (more…)

December 4, 2020

Half of people say working from home has improved their relationships

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A new study from Perkbox claims that the increased amount of time spent at home together under lockdown has actually strengthened many people’s personal relationships. Just under half (45 percent) of employees claim that their relationship with the people they live with has become stronger during their time working from home together. 51 percent say that their relationship is the same as before, with just 4 percent feeling that their relationship is now not as strong. (more…)

December 3, 2020

Hybrid working presents us with a once in a generation opportunity

by Michael Cockburn • Comment, Coworking, Flexible working, Technology

In the face of the revolutionary and long-lasting changes to workplaces across the world resulting from the pandemic, some commentators have suggested that the wide-spread necessity of adopting remote working practices may have made the office obsolete. However, such a dramatic upheaval to the very foundation of the workplace and working dynamic won’t come without a cost, and new data suggests that perhaps the office isn’t the dinosaur many assumed, but still a central pillar to effective businesses as part of a hybrid working strategy. (more…)

December 2, 2020

UK businesses still aren’t providing the flexible working employees want

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

According to new research from Tiger Recruitment, UK businesses still aren’t offering workers enough flexibility. While the pandemic has required many to work more flexibly from home, more than a quarter of employees questioned say they still aren’t happy with the flexible working options available to them, and men are just as dissatisfied as women. (more…)

November 30, 2020

Rise of remote work monitoring technology to be investigated by taskforce

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Union body the TUC has today launched a new taskforce to look at the “creeping role” of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing people at work. The taskforce launch comes as a new TUC report, Technology managing people: the worker experience, claims that many workers have concerns over the use of AI and technology in the workplace. (more…)

November 26, 2020

People still struggling with shift to remote living

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A lack of balance through lockdown has been felt most dramatically by Brits living in house shares according to new research released by Microsoft Windows. The research claims that over 40 percent of people living with house mates, friends or professionals are finding it increasingly difficult to destress and unwind after a long and challenging day; while a further 1 in 5 of the UK population admit that work and play has become blurred in 2020. (more…)

November 25, 2020

One in eight firms already use software to monitor remote workers

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Technology

A large number of British companies companies say they plan to install monitoring software of some kind to keep an eye on employees working from home, according to a new survey. Around 20 percent of employers said their firms have either implemented, or plan to implement, online software which monitors their remote workers. (more…)

November 25, 2020

Third of people working from home worry about mental health

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

In a recent survey of 4,000 office-based employees and 1,000 employers in the UK, U.S, Singapore and the UAE, a third of employees expressed concern for their mental health whilst working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, conducted by health benefits provider, Aetna International, examines the perceptions of both employers and employees when it comes to corporate health and well-being. (more…)