June 21, 2021
HR should play a more strategic role in business resilience
Almost every organisation now knows it must become more resilient as the economy emerges from the pandemic. As well as coping with crises and global events, organisations must excel in the face of the many less high-profile disruptions that hit an organisation – from supply chain bottlenecks to shifts in demand and sudden skills shortages. HR departments have a major role to play in this but to do so successfully requires a change of mindset, taking a step back from traditional administrative functions and reviewing the entire business as if they were an outsider. (more…)
Paradoxically, 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 
As COVID-19 continues to limit our daily lives, forcing the Government to extend social restrictions into July, restrictions of a different kind are taking their toll on working women, and may be even longer-lasting, according to research from 
The events of the past 16 months have focussed attention on how we best bring people together to work, collaborate and learn from each other. That is why workplace occupancy and collaboration technology specialist 
The future of work is neither here (at home) nor there (at the office). The hybrid post-pandemic model for the workplace is quickly coming into play, whereby employees work in the office for part of the week and log in from home for the rest, with staff rotating in and out, connecting virtually and in real life, all from various spots on the globe. Even as restrictions ease, it’s clear that work as we know it may never be the same. Full-time 9-5 commuting schedules are a thing of the past, but the practice of having the entire team conference together on Zoom from their couches is quickly ending as well. 
Major UK employers plan to reduce their office space by up to nine million square feet, equivalent to 14 Walkie Talkie buildings – the 37 floor high rise on London’s Fenchurch Street – according to 
Ten years ago, the day after I left my full-time job at FM World magazine* to set up Magenta I wrote a blog called 
When it comes to conversations about work and workplaces, the past year has offered a fully immersive experience. Everybody now has an opinion. Inevitably some of them are better informed and more rooted in experience than others. So, after a full year of talk and as we return to some form of routine working life, the time has come to take stock. Few organisations and people will remain untouched by the sudden shift in attitudes towards working life, so we asked four workplace experts for their views on the current state of play. 
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in digital learning with seven in ten organisations (70 percent) reporting an increase in use of digital or online solutions over the last year, according to the latest Learning and Skills at Work report from the 
Jooxter has announced the expansion of its operations into the UK and Ireland. 
June 25, 2021
Trees can’t solve the climate change problem. That’s our job
by Scott Petersen • Comment, Environment, Facilities management