Search Results for: working hours

Are these the best countries in Europe for work-life balance?

Are these the best countries in Europe for work-life balance?

work-life balanceA new study from recruitment firm Remote claims to analyse how European countries are looking after the work-life balance of their employees. The report sets out to take an ‘holistic’ view on work-life balance taking into account of factors such as minimum wage, maternity leave, statutory annual leave, sick pay, the country’s healthcare system and the country’s overall happiness level to help workers determine the best locations for life-work balance. The UK comes in a lowly 28th place, in case you didn’t want to click on the report link. More →

Demand for a four-day week continues to grow

Demand for a four-day week continues to grow

four-day weekAccording to a new report from ADP exploring employees’ attitudes towards the current world of work, six-in-ten (60 percent) UK workers would like more flexibility as to when they work, such as condensing hours into a four-day week. This number increased to two-thirds (67 percent) in Greater London. The report claims that this desire for great flexibility comes at a time when there is a mental health “ticking timebomb” in workplaces. Over half (51 percent) of men and 45 percent of women believe that their work is suffering due to their poor mental health. This is leading to over a quarter (29 percent) of workers actively trying to change their job and/or move into another industry. More →

Over-50s urged to return to work to deal with staff shortages

Over-50s urged to return to work to deal with staff shortages

over-50sThe British Chambers of Commerce has said employers and the Government need to work together to bring older people back into the workforce. According to ONS data,  around 500,000 older people have left the workforce in recent years, many of them prompted to do so by the pandemic. The number of over-50s who aren’t working or currently looking for work rose by 493,000 between October 2019 and December 2021. According to the Office for National Statistics, one in five did so due to stress or other mental health concerns. More →

From commuting to computers, finding balance in the hybrid workplace

From commuting to computers, finding balance in the hybrid workplace

hybrid workplaceA recent survey from AT&T and Dubber found that 81 percent of respondents believe hybrid work will be the foremost working model by 2024, with 56 percent of work done off site. A striking 100 percent of respondents believe a hybrid work model will help attract young talent. While there are numerous benefits to being able to work from home, as the pandemic continues on, time has brought some of the challenges of remote work to light, serving as a reminder that balance is key to a hybrid work environment. Pre-pandemic, it seemed rare for companies to implement proactive solutions for workplace burnout. Businesses are now presented with the unique opportunity to find balance between in-person and remote work, and create workplaces that thrive within the hybrid workplace model. More →

Half of workers worried about the financial cost of the return to the office

Half of workers worried about the financial cost of the return to the office

commuters return to the officeSlack has released the results of a new poll which the firm claims reveals the current state of mental wellbeing among UK workers. Commissioned in partnership with NHS GP and TV Doctor, Dr Sara Kayat, and to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the survey sets out to examines the impact of the office on wellbeing, the effects of the return to the office after the pandemic and indicates how businesses can build healthier workplaces. More →

People would consider a return to the office if employer would cover commuting costs

People would consider a return to the office if employer would cover commuting costs

Over two-thirds of UK office workers would consider returning to the office full-time if employers covered commute costs, an Emburse/YouGov poll suggests. The survey of 1,000 British employees, of which 724 worked in an office, were asked questions around their new working preferences in order to understand what the ‘future of work’ looks like. Around 68 percent said that they would be likely to consider going into the office full time if transport costs to the office were fully covered. More →

The effects of workplace change may not be the ones we expect

The effects of workplace change may not be the ones we expect

There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why the pods can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter that had recently belonged to a very unfortunate baboon. More →

Making sense of an uncertain but energetic return to some sort of normal

Making sense of an uncertain but energetic return to some sort of normal

The first Omnirama event on the 23rd of March launched the series exploring different factors challenging the world of work in a time of prevailing  uncertainty. Underlying Ominirama’s raison d’etre is that recent events have turned the status quo on its head with some major structural and systemic changes taking place. Nobody seems to have any clear idea of how to deal with this enormous transformation in the ways we work  All the playbooks and all the guidance that we have all relied upon for so many years have now gone out the window. More →

Four day week now more attractive thanks to pandemic

Four day week now more attractive thanks to pandemic

four day weekThe COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and shift to remote working has had a significant impact on organisations’ attitudes towards a shorter working week, new research from Henley Business School has revealed. The longitudinal study found that 65 percent of UK businesses surveyed are now implementing a four-day working week for some, or all, of their staff, compared with 50 percent who answered a similar survey carried out by Henley in 2019. More →

Wellbeing, skills and diversity data absent from majority of FTSE 100 firms’ annual reports

Wellbeing, skills and diversity data absent from majority of FTSE 100 firms’ annual reports

wellbeing, skills, diversityNew analysis of FTSE 100 annual reports finds that while workforce reporting has improved in the past two years, the quantity and quality of disclosures still varies significantly and remains very poor in places. The new report, How do companies report on their ‘most important asset?, from the CIPD, the PLSA and Railpen, analysed the quality of workforce disclosures in the 2021 annual reports of FTSE 100 companies against seven key themes: Workforce cost and composition; employee relations and wellbeing; reward; voice; skills, capabilities and recruitment; and response to COVID-19. More →

Caring responsibilities disproportionately impact women’s lives and careers

Caring responsibilities disproportionately impact women’s lives and careers

caringNearly six out of ten women (58 percent) say caring responsibilities have stopped them applying for promotion or a new job, and one in five (19 percent) have left a job because it was too hard to balance work and care, according to wide-ranging research by Ipsos and Business in the Community (BITC). Whilst 35 percent of all adults, and 44 percent per cent of working adults, have caring responsibilities, the research found that they are not spread equally. Women account for 85 percent of sole carers for children and 65 percent of sole carers for older adults. More people from ethnic minority backgrounds (42 percent) have caring responsibilities than from white backgrounds. More →

Bereaved employees feel added pressure of job insecurity

Bereaved employees feel added pressure of job insecurity

bereaved employeesEmpathy, a platform helping families navigate the journey they face after losing a loved one, today released the first edition of its annual Cost of Dying Report (registration). The report reveals results from a new survey exploring the real cost of dying in the US and the impact on bereaved employees. The report includes a foreword from Goldman Sachs, as well as reflections from experts in the end-of-life space including David Kessler, Chief Empathy Officer at Empathy & Grief Expert, BJ Miller, MD, Compassion Advisor at Empathy & Co-Founder of Mettle Health, and Shoshanna Ungerleider, MD, Founder of the End Well Foundation. More →