Search Results for: workforce

Upskilling opportunities during lockdown: UK employers miss the mark

Upskilling opportunities during lockdown: UK employers miss the mark

UpskillingAccording to new research from Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ: PS), the technology skills and engineering management platform, 43 percent of UK office workers are worried they will be left behind as companies seek new skills to cope with the rapid pace of change. Yet, despite these upskilling concerns, 47 percent have neglected learning any new skills since the lockdown began in the UK on March 23rd. More →

Government urged to give regions greater power over skills and employment

Government urged to give regions greater power over skills and employment

The Government must give UK regional economies greater autonomy over skills and employment to develop grassroot recovery strategies – or risk levelling down the chances of millions, according to a new report published by City & Guilds Group. More →

Employees are twice as motivated and productive if they’re resilient

Employees are twice as motivated and productive if they’re resilient

ResilientAon plc, has released new research that highlights the impact on employee motivation and productivity if they are resilient. The data, gained across five European countries, including the UK, claims that employees are nearly twice as likely to be motivated and therefore productive, if they are resilient. More →

Organisations shift attitudes on meeting costs of home office setup

Organisations shift attitudes on meeting costs of home office setup

home officeEighty-two percent of US based employers now believe the organisation should absorb the cost of a home office setup for employees that work from home full-time. This is a dramatic increase over those who did so before COVID-19. These and other findings from The Future of Home Office Cost Sharing survey from Global Workplace Analytics and Design Public Group, will lead to profound changes in how companies procure and distribute technology and furniture, budget for workplaces, attract and retain talent, and manage safety risk, according to the report’s authors. More →

Trust from the boss outweighs all other factors for employee happiness

Trust from the boss outweighs all other factors for employee happiness

Trust

While some organisations have welcomed remote working with open arms, other employers have struggled to trust their employees to work autonomously with some even ramping up on surveillance to track exactly what their workforce is doing. This may however be problematic for organisations looking to attract and retain talent as, according to a recent report from UK-based tech-for-good developer, Culture Shift, almost all (93 percent) of Britain’s workforce say having an employer that trusts them is important for their overall happiness at work.  More →

Workplace culture is not something to be changed with hashtags

Workplace culture is not something to be changed with hashtags

workplace cultureThe state of the nation’s mental health and subsequent pressure on organisations to do ‘something’ has resulted in a PR opportunity for those who see it and take it. While mental health is high on the agenda of workplace culture improvements, several organisations, including Barclays, Eon and Unilever to name a few, have signed an open letter to The Times pledging to prioritise mental health as employees return to work, after research showed that more than a third of workers were struggling. More →

Office design should embrace the new digital workplace

Office design should embrace the new digital workplace

A new era of office designIt almost goes without saying that how we work and interact with each other has changed dramatically over the past few months. We have come to rely on technology to replace in-person interactions, be it for a meeting, birthday party, or dinner with friends. Thankfully, most people are able to stay digitally connected through the “three screens of our lives”—a mobile device, a tablet, and a desktop or laptop computer. This would not have been possible in the very recent past and it has profound implications for office design. More →

Everybody needs to be prepared for a new digital workplace

Everybody needs to be prepared for a new digital workplace

digital workplaceGraduates today are largely considered to be the ‘net generation’. Growing up whilst social media accelerated, their years in higher education have been synonymous with digital literacy, even before COVID-19 turned their studies entirely virtual. This monumental move into a digital workplace also echoed throughout the job market. As offices closed in Spring and millions were furloughed across hospitality, retail and travel, demand spiked by 36 percent for roles advertised in the digital tech sector. More →

A quarter of UK workers do not feel valued by their organisation

A quarter of UK workers do not feel valued by their organisation

ValuedWith the British workforce being asked to return to working from home amid fears of a second spike in COVID-19 cases, new research from employee experience professionals Qualtrics, claims that a quarter (24 percent) of UK workers do not feel valued by their organisation.

The research, which surveyed 2,000 UK workers, also claims that 15 percent of people feel less valued by their employer since the outbreak began and a further fifth (19 percent) do not feel proud to work for their organisation. More →

Future of work has arrived sooner than expected, WEF report claims

Future of work has arrived sooner than expected, WEF report claims

future of workThe Future of Jobs 2020 report from the World Economic Forum claims that COVID-19 has caused the labour market to change faster than expected. The research suggests that what was recently considered the future of work has now arrived. By 2025, automation and a new division of labour between humans and machines will disrupt 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies. More →

Commercial rental prices fall in the UK as pandemic continues to bite

Commercial rental prices fall in the UK as pandemic continues to bite

Prices

Commercial real estate rental prices are continuing to drop in all the UK’s main business centres according to the latest quarterly figures by national office agent FreeOfficeFinder.com. Office rental prices and those for coworking spaces at the UK’s major cities are all feeling the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with predictions that they will slump even further as a result of the new lockdown measures announced by the government. More →

Remote work and the risks of employee surveillance

Remote work and the risks of employee surveillance

There has been a gradual shift towards increased flexible and remote work patterns in the last few years. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the perfect storm to force organisations to further consider their working practices, with all but essential physical roles usually involving an element of homeworking – nearly half of people in employment in the UK did some work at home in April 2020, according to the ONS. Many businesses are expecting to operate a largely remote workforce for the foreseeable future. The fear of declining productivity and concerns for people wellbeing has encouraged many employers to increase their employee monitoring arrangements. More →