September 3, 2021
Business confidence back to pre-pandemic levels, with fewer plans to shrink offices
CEOs of the world’s largest businesses are increasingly optimistic about the outlook for their own business, according to the latest KPMG CEO Outlook Survey. Despite a slower ‘return to normal’ than expected, their confidence in the global economy has returned to levels not seen since the start of the pandemic. The number planning to reduce their office footprints has fallen dramatically since the height of the pandemic, and instead there is a growing focus on introducing flexible working cultures. More →
A new study, commissioned by 
As the UK government has withdrawn its advice for employees to work from home, more organisations than ever will be instituting what have become known as hybrid working models: 68 percent globally, according to research from 
Almost half (45 percent) of UK firms have decreased their research and development initiatives during the covid-19 pandemic, with even 18 percent of firms halting theirs altogether, according to new research from 
There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why they can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter belonging to a very unfortunate baboon. 
A gap is emerging between executive and employee perceptions on the future of the ’employee experience’, according to a report from Gartner. The 2021 Gartner Hybrid Work Employee Survey of 4,000 employees in January 2021 claims that there are six perception gaps that employers must resolve. The Gartner survey claims that 75 percent of executive leaders believe they are already offering a flexible employee experience, yet only 57 percent of employees indicate that their organisational culture embraces flexible working. Further, nearly three-quarters of executives believe the business understands how flexible work patterns support employees, but only half of employees share this view. 
Restrictions may have been lifted but there is no major rush for everyone to head back to the office. Many 
I recently read an interesting little book called 
In the past, Human Resources Information System (HRIS) software was largely created with the needs of HR professionals and system administrators in mind. The future of HRIS however, is an employee-centric system which has been come to be known as an 
August 23, 2021
Executives think work should be split 70:30 between office and home
by Neil Franklin • Comment, Flexible working