Search Results for: society

Learning to learn will be key skill in new world of work

Learning to learn will be key skill in new world of work

by • News

A joint report by the Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on AI, Big Innovation Centre, and professional services firm KPMG has been published, identifying the key skills individuals and organisations will need if they are to survive and thrive in the unfolding future. The report finds that jobs in the labour market of the future will look very different from today and the transformation is likely to be dramatic. It also calls for companies and governments to equip citizens and employees for that future, to help them learn the new skills needed to be relevant in a world of constant transformation.

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Fathers seek more flexible working, but remain concerned about impact on career

Fathers seek more flexible working, but remain concerned about impact on career

by • Flexible working, News

As more and more women are staying in the workplace after having children – and often full time – parents are demanding greater access to flexible working, but dads are still being held back by old-fashioned policies and fears that their employer will react negatively to requests to work flexibly, according to two new Workingmums.co.uk surveys.

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The horrors and harmonies of workplace hierarchy

The horrors and harmonies of workplace hierarchy

by • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

I am a child of the seventies, and one of my favourite shows when I was just a tyke was The Jeffersons. For those not familiar with The Jeffersons, it was about a black family in New York City who had, through ambition and entrepreneurship, ‘made it to the top’. George Jefferson, the patriarch, was a bolshie character. Hijinks usually ensued. But what stuck with me about that show was the catchy theme song, Movin’ On Up. The lyrics were ‘I’m movin’ on up, to the upper east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky… I finally got a piece of the pie.’ Growing up in suburbia, this was probably the first time that I learned the idea of a penthouse, and the notion that the higher up the building, the more important you were. It wasn’t until I was about age eight that I realised the word wasn’t ‘high-archy’, but ‘hierarchy.’

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We need to take a scientific approach to the potential impact of AI

We need to take a scientific approach to the potential impact of AI

by • Comment, Technology

Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence? For me, this is a simple question with an even simpler, two letter answer: no. But not everyone agrees – many people, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, have raised concerns that the rise of powerful AI systems could spell the end for humanity. Clearly, your view on whether AI will take over the world will depend on whether you think it can develop intelligent behaviour surpassing that of humans – something referred to as “super intelligence”.

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A changing world with inbuilt human obsolescence defines first day of CoreNet Global

A changing world with inbuilt human obsolescence defines first day of CoreNet Global

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The  forces that are changing the world, from AI and the current digital and technological transformation, to the short and long-term implications of Brexit, provided many of the key lessons during the first day of the CoreNet Global Summit in Madrid.

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Nearly a third of UK workers favour fines for companies who breach ethics

Nearly a third of UK workers favour fines for companies who breach ethics

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Nearly a third of UK workers favour fines for companies who breach ethicsAlmost two thirds (64 percent) of SME employees believe that companies should make a positive contribution to society, while half of all UK workers (50 percent) would be discouraged from working for an organisation with no interest in community or ethical goals. According to The Future Workforce from Unum and independent researcher The Future Laboratory this emphasis on a company’s ethical credentials comes in the wake of a movement towards greater awareness of global issues, which has led to demands for more transparency in how organisations do business and less tolerance of unethical corporate behaviour. As a result, an ethical employer can be an important factor when it comes to deciding whether to join or stay with an organisation –In addition, The Future Workforce report found that just under a third (30 percent) of UK workers believe that companies who are not participating in any civic or ethical contributions should be fined.

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It is not particularly easy to change human behaviour by design

It is not particularly easy to change human behaviour by design

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

virgin media designMany of the techniques employed by modern illusionists rely on a thorough grounding in the research of psychologists. They’re not alone in standing on the shoulders of academics to bend people to their will. Many of our beliefs about the workings of our society and workplaces and their design are based on this sort of manipulation. It’s telling that the growth of consumerism in the 20th Century, especially after the War when we first began to move from a needs based economy to one fuelled by desire, was driven by the ideas of Sigmund Freud’s nephew. Edward Bernays became the ‘father of PR’ by popularising his uncle’s theories in the US then applying them to mould the subconscious desires of the American masses. He did this not just in the name of commerce but also in that of politics because he believed that society was becoming increasingly irrational, immoral and dangerous.

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RICS announces standards to tackle unfair commercial property service charges

RICS announces standards to tackle unfair commercial property service charges

by • Facilities management, Legal news, News, Property

RICS standards aim to tackle unfair commercial property service charges

New mandatory requirements that will ensure service charges to commercial tenants are transparent, upfront and fair, and that any costs incurred are in accordance with the terms of the occupational leases, have been announced by RICS. The Institute, which has long called for a fairer and more professional approach to property management to help outlaw “rogue” landlords and managing agents says ‘Service charges in commercial property’ will help regulate the activities of landlords and their agents, whilst protecting tenants from having to pay for unscrupulous repair or maintenance costs. It has worked with major property bodies representing owners, occupiers and managing agents – including BPF, BRC, BCO, PMA, CoreNet, REVO, PMA alongside ICAEW and Law Society, the professional bodies for accountants and lawyers – to produce the recommendations that reflect the needs and opinions of landlords and tenants and the specific considerations of different sectors.

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Half of all workplace tasks will be performed by machines within seven years

Half of all workplace tasks will be performed by machines within seven years

by • News, Technology

The world is going through a workplace revolution that will bring a seismic shift in the way humans work alongside machines and algorithms, according to new research by the World Economic Forum. By 2025 more than half of all current workplace tasks will be performed by machines as opposed to 29 percent today. Such a transformation will have a profound effect on the global labour force, however in terms of overall numbers of new jobs the outlook is positive, with 133 million new jobs expected to be created by 2022 compared to 75 million that will be displaced. The research, published in The Future of Jobs 2018, is an attempt to understand the potential of new technologies to disrupt and create jobs. It is also seeks to provide guidance on how to improve the quality and productivity of the current work being done by humans and how to prepare people for emerging roles.

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Our weekly workplace round up of the best stories online

Our weekly workplace round up of the best stories online

by • Features

Why it’s so hard to be a working mom. Even at Facebook

Let’s bring back the Sabbath as a radical act against ‘total work’

What Starbucks gets that architects don’t

Silicon Valley’s company towns are doomed

Complexity & chaos — the new normal

The price of regeneration in London

To restore civil society, start with the Library

You should not expect the coworking bubble to burst anytime soon

You should not expect the coworking bubble to burst anytime soon

by • Comment, Coworking, Property, Workplace design

Coworking is not the norm yet, but it is headed that direction. In fact, a sign of its success is the fact that it has moved from being labelled a fad to asking if it is a bubble about to burst. Here’s a short answer: it is not going to go pop, fizzle out or run out of steam anytime soon. Why would it? Coworking is not something driven by real estate and developers. It reflects how our society is changing.

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Reinventing jobs for an automated future workplace

Reinventing jobs for an automated future workplace

by • AI, Comment, Technology

Earlier this year, the European Commission announced it will invest €20 billion in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and development by 2020 to boost the adoption of AI and robotics across multiple industries, which will have a significant impact on the way work across sectors gets done. Facing demographic deficits, Europe and Japan – and to an extent the US and China – are highly motivated to continue investment into AI, which is growing at an annual rate of 15 percent, and set to reach $1 trillion globally by 2050, according to Morgan Stanley.

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