Search Results for: society

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 →

The bullshit jobs theory may turn out to be, well…

The bullshit jobs theory may turn out to be, well…

a charging bull depicting bullshit jobs

The so-called ‘bullshit jobs theory’ – which argues that a large and rapidly increasing number of workers are undertaking jobs that they themselves recognise as being useless and of no social value – contains several major flaws, argue researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Birmingham. Even so, writing in Work, Employment and Society, the academics applaud its proponent, American anthropologist David Graeber, who died in September 2020, for highlighting the link between a sense of purpose in one’s job and psychological wellbeing.

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Majority of firms believe they have a purpose beyond making money

Majority of firms believe they have a purpose beyond making money

Mental healthThe majority of companies believe that their purpose is not solely to make money, according to a new survey by one of Britain’s best known business associations. The Institute of Directors claims that its recent poll shows companies are re-assessing their role in society. It says the findings come at a time when corporations are facing  greater pressure to recognise the impact of their decisions on the environment and the communities in which they work. More →

New research looks inside the UK ageism epidemic

New research looks inside the UK ageism epidemic

ageismNew research conducted by McCarthy Stone, claims to expose the true scale of Ageist Britain, reporting that over a quarter (27 percent) of over 65s in the UK – equivalent to more than three million people – have been victims of ageism. 60 percent of UK adults believe it’s a problem that needs fixing. More →

Public concerned about risk of unemployment, day to day living costs, and economic growth

Public concerned about risk of unemployment, day to day living costs, and economic growth

publicA large majority of the public are concerned about rising unemployment (82 percent), day to day living costs (80 percent), and low economic growth (77 percent), according to a PwC survey of 2,000 people across the UK. Pandemics and other health crises (84 percent), cyber crime (82 percent), and climate change (81 percent) were other key concerns according to the research, which looks at the UK public’s attitude to risk.
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Single parents in danger of being locked out of work and forced into poverty

Single parents in danger of being locked out of work and forced into poverty

povertyA report published by single parent charity, Gingerbread, and the Institute for Employment Studies highlights how the world of work simply doesn’t work for single parents and warns things are set to get worse before they get better – putting even more single parent families at risk of poverty and creating a two-tier society, with single parents firmly at the bottom. More →

Government must recognise role of managers in halting unemployment crisis

Government must recognise role of managers in halting unemployment crisis

GovernmentA shift to remote working in the pandemic has made starting a new job even more challenging and the Government must recognise the vital role managers have to play as it works to ensure the success of its £2.6 billion job drive. More →