Search Results for: skills gap

More needs to be done to bridge the digital gender divide, says OECD

More needs to be done to bridge the digital gender divide, says OECD

by • News, Technology

Barriers to access, education and skills, as well as ingrained socio-cultural biases, are driving a digital gender divide that is holding back women’s participation in the digital economy, according to a new OECD report. Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Include, Upskill, Innovate says women are not currently empowered to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. While G20 economies have taken important actions to narrow gender gaps in general, more needs to be done to increase the participation of women and girls in the digital economy so that they too can contribute to and benefit from the digital transformation that is under way.

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Organisations at risk of falling behind due to a lack of AI strategy, training and experience 

Organisations at risk of falling behind due to a lack of AI strategy, training and experience 

by • AI, News, Technology

UK organisations risk falling behind oversees competition due to a lack of Artificial Intelligence strategy, according to a new report (registration required) published by Microsoft UK and Goldsmiths, University of London. In the face of significant disruption, the research reveals that 41 per cent of business leaders believe their current business model will cease to exist within the next 5 years. Despite big questions over the longevity of their business models, more than half (51 per cent) of business leaders surveyed revealed they do not have a relevant strategy in place to address these challenges.   (more…)

Female graduates have lower salary expectations than male counterparts

Female graduates have lower salary expectations than male counterparts

by • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Female graduates have lower salary expectations than men

Impostor syndrome is holding female graduates back from earning as much as their male counterparts as new research from Milkround claims that women have lower salary expectations than men, with one third thinking they’ll earn under £20k. Despite a third of graduate’s belief that confidence is the top skill they need to excel in their career, a lack of confidence is holding back more women (41 percent) than men (28 percent). One in three (33 percent) women are worried about low pay and think they’ll earn under £20k in an entry level role, compared to less than a quarter (22 percent) of their male counterparts. (more…)

A new deal for dads at work is essential in the quest for gender balance

A new deal for dads at work is essential in the quest for gender balance

by • Flexible working, News

New research published by consulting firm Talking Talent claims to identify how it is essential for employers to improve support for working fathers in order to achieve equality for working mothers. Organisations need to go further than setting policy to achieve this – they need working practices that make it easier for employees to share parental responsibilities between mum and dad, according to the report (registration required).  Successfully sharing their role as parents is essential for women to continue the progression of their careers and is key to closing the gender pay gap, according to the study of 7,000 people. But it will only succeed if organisations ensure working dads don’t face exactly the same negative experiences which have stopped working mums progressing in the past. The research claims that over half (52 percent) of working parents, including 26 percent men and 30 percent women, think that their career has slowed down compared to their childless colleagues.

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Stressed, ignored and knackered – the lot of British workers in 2018

Stressed, ignored and knackered – the lot of British workers in 2018

by • News, Wellbeing

Workers in Britain feel that they are working harder than ever before, new research reveals. The Skills and Employment Survey, a joint project between Cardiff University, University College London and the University of Oxford, has been researching the views of workers since the mid-1980s.

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Executives understand the importance of big data but have little idea what to do with it

Executives understand the importance of big data but have little idea what to do with it

by • News, Technology

When board members in big firms make critical decisions about their organisations, it is almost always behind closed doors. So exactly how and if senior leaders draw on big data factors in their decision-making is largely unexplained. Researchers from Brunel University studied top-level decisions by board managers at 19 organisations in manufacturing, finance, consultancy, IT and air travel. The study, published in the Journal of Business Research looked at how board managers think and act and the mental models and skills they use to weigh up big data. Directors, it suggests, recognise big data’s potential to improve their decision-making. But many admit feeling ill-equipped to do this, whether through their own technical skills or the new type of non-linear thinking needed. (more…)

When workplace strategy builds bridges between people and place

When workplace strategy builds bridges between people and place

by • Features, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

The world of work is changing rapidly and profoundly in a way that we haven’t seen since the time of the industrial revolution. Yet even as we stand at a momentous, game-changing inflexion point, the 21st century workplace strategy sector is still dithering about whether to join in the revolution. They are like the industrial mill owners of 19th century England who adopted a ‘make do and mend’ approach to business and failed to invest in new technology only to be forced out of business by foreign competitors who had invested in radical new, state of the art technology.Today the technological game changer is digital technology rather than weaving technology, but the effect is the same. Unless the workplace strategy sector embraces change and builds bridges between the ‘people’ side of the business and the ‘place’ side with other workplace specialists, their industry will become as dead as a dodo.

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AI will be commonplace in the working lives of staff very soon

AI will be commonplace in the working lives of staff very soon

by • News, Technology

Experts at Henley Business School have announced that the majority of the graduate workforce in the UK will be working with artificial intelligence on a daily basis by 2030, with technology such as ‘AI assistants’ expected to be commonplace in the next decade. New research released at the Henley annual World of Work 2030 conference, claims that a third (35 percent) of UK workers are excited about the prospect of their own personal AI assistant. With the average worker currently spending 3.5 hours a week on admin tasks, assistants’ could give workers back 12 working days a year (over two working weeks) by taking on these activities and freeing up time for more productive tasks.

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Call for employers to do more for older workers

Call for employers to do more for older workers

by • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

A new report from the charity and lobbying group the Centre for Ageing Better has called for employers to be more age-friendly and inclusive of those over 50, including doing more to tackle age discrimination in the workplace. According to the study, significant numbers of older workers feel they are being discriminated against at work because of their age, including believing they have been turned down for jobs (9 percent) and being offered fewer opportunities for training and progression (32 percent).

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Why early intervention matters for workplace mental health

Why early intervention matters for workplace mental health

by • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace

Last year alone, poor mental health was the primary cause of long-term absence for 22 percent of organisations, with employees feeling too stressed or anxious to face going in to work. This was up from 13 percent in 2016. However, 45 percent of those who take time off for mental health reasons give their employers another excuse for their absence. Symptoms of mental health can build up when not properly recognised or assessed, but they’re hard to combat when so many employees don’t feel confident enough to open-up about how they’re feeling.

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Training and flexible working are the keys to staff retention

Training and flexible working are the keys to staff retention

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Firms are more likely to improve levels of staff retention if they increase their investment in training, and introduce more flexible working practices, according to a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and recruitment company Indeed. The survey, of over 1,000 businesspeople across all sizes or organisation and sectors, shows that just under half (42 percent) of businesses would invest in training and developing their staff in order to increase staff retention, while 38 percent would look to introduce flexible working practices, from flexible hours and remote working to job-sharing.

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Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflict

Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflict

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Employers welcome multi-generational workforce but worry about increased risk of conflictImproved living standards, deflating pension pots and legal protection against age discrimination have all helped to nudge up the retirement age. The result is that for the first time since the Industrial Revolution five generations of employees are now working side by side. According to a new survey, two thirds of organisations (66 per cent) say that an age diverse workforce helped the company to have a more comprehensive skillset and knowledge base and more than seven in ten (71 per cent) felt that a multi-generational workforce brought contrasting views to their organisation. However, in the YouGov survey of middle market businesses commissioned by RSM, four in ten companies (41 per cent) said that a multi-generational workforce also increased the risk of conflict in the workplace. (more…)

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