March 2, 2021
Search Results for: risk
Progress for women in work could be back at 2017 levels by the end of this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis conducted for 
February 24, 2021
Isolation of employees is IT teams’ greatest home-working concern
The feelings of isolation being experienced by employees is the biggest concern IT and cybersecurity teams have around home working, say almost one third (31 percent) of respondents to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe. The objective was to investigate views on the current threat landscape, as remote working remains the norm and ‘lockdown fatigue’ sets in. (more…)
February 23, 2021
Gig economy workers to make up fifth of employees in financial services firms, claims report
More than half of financial institutions say they expect to have more ‘gig economy’ based employees over the next three to five years, according to PwC’s report, Productivity 2021 and beyond: Upskilling the workforce of the future to create a competitive advantage in financial services. The second iteration of PwC’s productivity research, that surveyed over 500 financial services businesses globally, and received over 60 percent of responses from C-suite leaders, looked at some key workstreams implemented by financial services businesses and evaluated its impact on productivity. (more…)
February 19, 2021
A new mindset on climate change is emerging from the pandemic
Of all the opportunities for positive change driven by the pandemic, the most important may be the least talked about. And that’s in spite of the fact that both workers and organisations as well as governments and other bodies around the world are aware and in favour of it and its consequences are most far reaching, affecting us all. It is, of course, the chance to do something significant about climate change and the environment. (more…)
February 19, 2021
Employees are bearing up, but nerves are frayed
According to new data from Glint, despite the odds, employees were happier at work at the end of 2020 than they were at the end of 2019, but feelings of burnout remain worryingly high. Looking at aggregated data from 9 million employee-engagement survey responses from companies around the world, Glint’s latest analysis claims that employee happiness at work rose 5.4 percent in December 2020, compared to December 2019. (more…)
February 18, 2021
The return to buildings will now focus attention on ventilation
The UK COVID-19 vaccination programme is well underway. Once the over 50s, younger people with health conditions, NHS and care workers have received the vaccine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been clear that current lockdown restrictions could be lifted in stages with schools and business a top priority. The situation is under review, but there is an expectation that business premises could reopen as early as Easter, when a large proportion of the working age population may not have been vaccinated. That means the focus in workplaces and other multi-occupant spaces, especially those open to the public, must remain on limiting transmission to prevent the spread of coronavirus to un-vaccinated people, and especially on factors such as ventilation. (more…)
February 18, 2021
Two million people in the UK have not worked for at least six months
Almost two million workers were unemployed or fully furloughed in January – and had been for at least six months – highlighting the scale of lasting damage to the UK’s labour force that will need to be addressed in the Budget, according to major new research published today by the Resolution Foundation. Long Covid in the labour market – supported by the Health Foundation – examines the state of the labour market during the current lockdown, the cumulative impact of the longer than expected crisis so far, and workers’ prospects for the months ahead as the economy starts to recover. (more…)
February 16, 2021
We must seize the chance to go full circle on sustainable office design
The circular economy is the ‘holy grail’. Few people would deny the ambition of keeping resources in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value from them, then recovering and regenerating products and materials at the end of each service life. Is this achievable within the furniture and furnishings sector? Many manufacturers and suppliers can justifiably boast impressive ‘green’ credentials, such as manufacturing techniques, the use of innovative and sustainable materials as well as recyclability of products. The production and supply of new furnishings doesn’t address, however, the short and longer term issues relating to sustainability. ‘Cradle to cradle’ is a great concept – but who is responsible? (more…)
February 5, 2021
More than two-thirds of FM leaders resistant to technology progress
Outdated attitudes towards technology amongst senior facilities management business leaders are at risk of jeopardising future business survival, claims new research by Sigma Dynamics. The Connected Enterprise report claims that 71 percent of C-suite executives, directors and senior managers are sceptical about the benefits of implementing new business technology. (more…)
February 4, 2021
When business leaders open up about mental health, we all benefit
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the way in which we work and has brought in to focus the challenges around mental health and wellbeing. The recognition that we are in the midst of the biggest mental health crisis since the Second World War brings the challenge in to stark focus. Time to Talk Day (today) aims to get the nation talking more openly about mental health, and there could not be a better time for it. Research from Wondrous published this week found that one in six people (17 percent) who have switched to remote working during the pandemic have seen their mental health suffer, rising to 20 percent among women and younger workers. I suspect that the inherent stigma that still surrounds mental health is masking the true percentage of people being affected. (more…)
February 4, 2021
Older executives are coping with WFH challenges better than younger leaders
Senior executives aged 55+ have fared better than ‘millennial’ leaders (aged under 35) during the global pandemic. ABBYY’s COVID-19 Technology and Business Process Report claims that since the pandemic, executives of all ages have experienced huge challenges – in the UK alone, 81 percent of senior decision-makers struggled, particularly with collaborating with colleagues remotely (37 percent), motivation to work (29 percent) and productivity (26 percent). (more…)
March 6, 2021
Well, at least nobody is whinging about open plan offices anymore
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design
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