June 10, 2019

Half of US workers have a “side hustle” to earn more

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Nearly half (45 percent) of US workers say they earn extra income by using a side hustle, according to a new report from Bankrate.com. This includes both full-time (43 percent) and part-time (51 percent) workers. For most (66 percent), the extra money accounts for less than half of their monthly earnings. However, around a third of the 2,550 people surveyed say the extra income is needed to pay regular living expenses. Slightly more (34 percent) say they use the money for discretionary spending and 27 percent say it’s to boost their savings. (more…)

June 7, 2019

Flexible working held back by poor data

by Neil Franklin • News

Many managers still rely on gut feelings and inadequate or flawed data to make important but potentially poor decisions about real estate and flexible working. That is the main conclusion of a new piece of research by flexible workplace specialist Abintra. Published in a new report, the study highlights how corporations are struggling to manage office space efficiently as the trend towards agile and flexible working gathers momentum.

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June 6, 2019

In defence of open plan office design

by Elizabeth Mixson • Features, Workplace design

Noisy, distracting, toxic and disastrous. These are just a few words that have been used to describe open plan office layouts. Though the open office layout model was originally conceived to promote collaboration, innovation and stronger workplace relationship, if recent press is to be believed, it’s had the opposite effect at many companies. (more…)

June 6, 2019

Flexible working may not enhance productivity

by Marie Hillen • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace

The majority of office employees (84 percent) believe good relationships with colleagues boost their quality of work, yet nearly three quarters (70 percent) admit to not knowing the people they work with very well, claims a new survey from Nespresso Professional. The study suggests that changing office environments and flexible working practices are not improving employees’ relationships with co-workers, or their creativity and output. (more…)

June 5, 2019

C-suite reskills to face challenge of disruption

by George Eltringham • News, Work&Place

An emerging super-group of employees and consumers in the UK is adding intense pressure to already challenged C-suite leaders who are navigating tough economic, technological and geo-political environments – further threatening company growth, a new Accenture (NYSE: ACN) study finds. With nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of these powerful stakeholders believing they have the potential to destroy company value in the long term, the C-suite understands the need to respond. (more…)

June 4, 2019

HR managers most concerned about AI job threat

by George Eltringham • News, Technology

A new study suggests that more than 7 in 10 Britons working in production are concerned that their jobs may be made obsolete thanks to developments in Artificial Intelligence in the coming years. What’s more, over two fifths of respondents believe AI could rebel against humans. As technology develops and more money and time is invested into AI, the public’s opinion has been explored, with those working in production, HR and construction uncovered to be the most worried that AI could take their jobs away from them. (more…)

June 3, 2019

Bisley modular storage system awarded Design Guild Mark

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture, Workplace design

UK based storage firm Bisley has been awarded its second Design Guild mark for BOB, a hand-crafted modular storage and display system developed in collaboration with award winning British designer Paul Kelley. BOB’s configurations can be adapted for any use and environment, whether at home or in the workplace. The collaboration unifies Kelley’s design innovations with the craftsmanship and manufacturing expertise of Bisley. (more…)

May 31, 2019

The far reaching impact of empathy in the workplace

by Beverley Nicholas • Comment, Workplace

The average career length is 50 years, and according to Gallup’s State of The Global Workplace report, during this time only 1 in 10 people are actively engaged. This illustrates that within the current landscape there is a need for companies to actively pursue strategies to better engage their employees. Embedding empathy in working culture is one way of achieving actively-engaged workers but it also has the added benefit of increasing productivity and business growth. This was revealed by a piece in the Harvard Business Review, which highlighted the top ten most empathetic companies outperformed the bottom ten by at least 50 percent in productivity, earnings and growth. (more…)

May 29, 2019

Tech workers making plans to leave UK

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Although London still ranks as the most attractive city in the world for people working in the global tech industry, three out of four UK tech workers (75 percent) are willing to leave for the UK for better opportunities elsewhere. Digital experts are among the most in-demand workers but due to their talent and transferable nature of tech skills, they are also among those most prepared to relocate, compared to only 61 percent of non-tech workers who would be willing to make the move overseas. (more…)

May 28, 2019

A sophisticated eye on workplace design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Each day you can generally find somebody or other sharing their thoughts on ‘the office of the future’ or ‘the death of the office’. My view is that you should steer clear of taking most of this sort of stuff head-on, on the basis that hardcore deskheads have heard most of it before and already concluded that there are more important things to worry about in a fit-out than what a pool table and a second hand armchair tells us about workplace design.

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May 27, 2019

The workplace revolution is already here

by Tony Antoniou • Comment, Workplace design

We should all count ourselves privileged to witness first-hand the most dramatic changes in working practices in over two hundred years. This workplace revolution has been brought about mainly by technology which has allowed freedom of movement through Wi-Fi and cloud technology. This freedom has been embraced by the smart companies, allowing their people to thrive by creating workspaces that take advantage of this opportunity to unshackle themselves from fixed desk positions. They have given them great spaces in which to work, to go out and enjoy their environment and to have the ideal place in which to perform each task they are working on throughout their day. (more…)

May 23, 2019

Wellbeing, a pile of turtles, office culture and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

This week is Clerkenwell Design Week amongst other things, and as part of it I chaired a discussion on Tuesday about acoustics at work in the showroom of Flokk and their effect on wellbeing. We were fortunate to have a panel that involved the likes of Nigel Oseland, Michelle Wilkie of tp bennett, Joachim Schubert of Offecct and Lee Jones of Wellworking as well as an informed audience, if for no other reason than everybody’s ability to talk about the subject as complex and multi-faceted and, to some extent, hardwired. (more…)