Search Results for: society

Negative perceptions of remote work persist among both managers and workers

Negative perceptions of remote work persist among both managers and workers

remote workNew research from the US based Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) claims that there are widespread, persistent negative perceptions of remote work amongst line managers who are likely to express a preference for local work. In addition, remote workers themselves continue to express reservations about losing opportunities for networking and increased pay. More than two thirds of supervisors of remote workers surveyed by SHRM, or 67 percent, admit to considering remote workers more easily replaceable than onsite workers at their organization, 62 percent believe full-time remote work is detrimental to employees’ career objectives and 72 percent say they would prefer all of their subordinates to be working in the office. More →

Indoor air quality guide published by BESA

Indoor air quality guide published by BESA

indoor air qualityThe removal of most Covid restrictions in the UK has increased calls for clearer practical guidance and the setting of specific indoor air quality (IAQ) contaminant targets to support the health and wellbeing of building occupants. The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has, therefore, produced a concise guide to good practice: ‘Indoor Air Quality for Health & Well-Being’, which is designed to help building owners, managers and engineers interpret IAQ data and turn it into useful strategies for improving the indoor environment. More →

Older workers at risk of being ‘thrown on the scrap heap’

Older workers at risk of being ‘thrown on the scrap heap’

older workersIn face of growing skills gaps in the UK – post pandemic and Brexit – City & Guilds Group is urging businesses to stop the silver talent drain from the workforce by investing in upskilling valuable older workers – or risk further productivity shortfalls during the recovery period. More →

Firms don’t use artificial intelligence much, so the current hype is tripe

Firms don’t use artificial intelligence much, so the current hype is tripe

a long road ahead for artificial intelligenceMany governments are increasingly approaching artificial intelligence with an almost religious zeal. By 2018 at least 22 countries around the world, and also the EU, had launched grand national strategies for making AI part of their business development, while many more had announced ethical frameworks for how it should be allowed to develop. The EU documents more than 290 AI policy initiatives in individual EU member states between 2016 and 2020. More →

Time to get real on what companies need from their real estate

Time to get real on what companies need from their real estate

A new era for real estateAs businesses return to their offices they are faced with a challenge – how do they reappraise their space requirements post-Covid? Social and technological advancements are changing real estate from being a fixed physical product, into flexible, employee-centric spaces that enable new models of hybrid working and business operations. These have a significant impact on the ways that businesses work and the options available to them. More →

Working from home during pandemic has taken toll on mental health

Working from home during pandemic has taken toll on mental health

working from home

New research by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) claims there are links between working from home during the pandemic and increased levels of loneliness and mental distress. NatCen analysed data from interviews carried out with 8,675 people before the pandemic and in May, July and November 2020 for the Understanding Society COVID-19 survey. More →

Not waving, but drowning: why we need to take languishing more seriously

Not waving, but drowning: why we need to take languishing more seriously

A becalmed boat faces a storm to describe the problem of languishingThe word ‘languishing’ is being bandied around in the media as the world tries to recover from the pandemic and is experiencing many struggles resuming a semblance of ‘normal life’. Recent articles in The New York Times and The Guardian have detailed languishing as an inability to focus, being off peak performance, feeling joyless and aimless and having a sense of stagnation and emptiness. More →

Cities could be more important post-pandemic, not less, suggests report

Cities could be more important post-pandemic, not less, suggests report

Manchester, one of the UK's great citiesParadoxically, more in-person work environments and the concentration of jobs in cities could be a medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic’s shift to remote working, suggests Citi GPS Technology at Work: The Coming of the Post-Production Society, a report produced by Citi and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. The report cites the automation of manufacturing and clerical tasks alongside the potential for professional services jobs that can be done remotely to be done cheaper overseas as the start of a foundational shift in developed economies. The future of work in these countries, it suggests, could be based largely on innovation, exploration and creative thinking which require face-to-face interaction and geographic proximity. More →

Mental health is now biggest crisis for business

Mental health is now biggest crisis for business

mental healthA new research report Dräger Safety UK, which assesses the impact of Covid-19, Brexit and workplace culture on health and safety in UK workplaces, warns of an impending crisis as a result of soaring mental health issues and compromises on investment. More →

Wellbeing should be part of business strategy after lockdown, claims new report

Wellbeing should be part of business strategy after lockdown, claims new report

wellbeingA new report from the RSA and Vitality warns of the potentially serious impact on the long-term physical and mental health of employees. The authors claim that the ‘long lockdown effect’ should lead employers to see health and wellbeing as important strategic issues and place them on the company’s risk registers. With the shift to more flexible working cultures now set to continue, Healthy Hybrid, a Blueprint for Business, claims to shine a light on the health impact of successive lockdowns on homeworkers. More →

Work factors that make the drive home more dangerous

Work factors that make the drive home more dangerous

driveMost road traffic accidents happen on the drive home from work, claims new research from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM), which examines which characteristics of the working day have implications for road safety and why. More →

Tarkett and Note Design Studio interpret circular economy in Tarkett’s new showroom in Stockholm

Tarkett and Note Design Studio interpret circular economy in Tarkett’s new showroom in Stockholm

Recently launched is Tarkett Ateljé, the new Stockholm-based showroom designed in collaboration with Note Design Studio. The space is created as a forum for sustainability and design talks, in a setting that showcases circular economy being put into practice. More →