December 11, 2020

Workers feel overworked as a result of the pandemic

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Hardworking professionals are feeling the effects of longer working days and unpaid overtime, according to new research by law firm, Wright Hassall. The research claims that the average worker is performing nine or more hours of overtime in a given week, which totals more than one working day, compared to just three or more hours before the start of the pandemic. What’s more, 52 percent are actually doing so without being paid for this. More →

December 10, 2020

Three quarters of US workers suffering from burnout

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

A December 2020 online study of 1,136 employed U.S. adults carried out by wellbeing provider Spring Health claims that more than three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. employees are currently experiencing worker burnout. The coronavirus pandemic — along with major political upheavals and natural disasters ranging from wildfires to hurricanes — has led to skyrocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and stress for U.S. employees, setting the stage for another crisis: worker burnout. Among U.S. employees experiencing worker burnout, 57 percent say worries about COVID-19 have been a contributing factor to their experiencing burnout, while 33 percent say worries about political issues have contributed to the problem. More →

December 10, 2020

Almost half of employees would like less work stress in 2021

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives

Statistics released from payroll and HR company PayFit claim that almost nine in ten UK workers are unsatisfied with their jobs. With employees working longer hours, increased pressure and limited opportunities for pay increases in 2021, the research indicates that overall employee wellbeing remains an ongoing challenge for HR leaders – whilst wellbeing trends are evolving. More →

December 10, 2020

UK tech workers prefer better work-life balance to a pay rise

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture

When it comes to job satisfaction, Denmark tops the list of the best places to work in digital in Europe – beating the UK, Germany and France – according to the 2020 Digital Talent Global Work Happiness Index. The Nordic country scored highly for work-life balance, family-friendly working models, purpose, personal safety and personal impact, which describes how much impact an individual feels they are making to their business. More →

December 4, 2020

The lost art of office furniture peacocking and the growing mental health crisis at work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

When Donald Trump was pictured recently sitting uncomfortably at a table that looked like it had been retrieved from a skip, it provoked the sort of sneering commentary about furniture choices last seen when Dominic Cummings popped in to the Downing Street garden to deliver some self-serving blather from behind a rickety trestle table. More →

November 25, 2020

Maternity leave causes women to lose out on £3.2 billion

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working culture, Workplace

Women taking maternity leave collectively lose out on £3.2bn worth on earnings, a fall of nearly half their average annual salary, claims new research from Direct Line Life Insurance. More →

November 18, 2020

Generation BETA is the latest demographic grouping you need to acknowledge, claims report

by Jayne Smith • News, Technology, Working culture

GlobalWebIndex (GWI), together with LinkedIn’s B2B Institute, has launched “Work in BETA: The Rising B2B Decision Maker”. The new report sets out to examine the ‘changing behaviours and attitudes of “the BETAs” – the first cohort of digital natives (21 to 40 year-olds) to assume positions of seniority in business, at a time of dislocation’. More →

November 16, 2020

Millions will struggle to access the Government’s new Lifetime Skills Guarantee

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working lives

New analysis published by the Work Foundation and Totaljobs claims that millions of low paid workers will struggle to access the Government’s new Lifetime Skills Guarantee (LSG) when it is launched next year amidst a growing jobs challenge. More →

November 16, 2020

How to manage workplace capacity in 2020

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The pandemic has totally shattered workplace norms, so it’s going to take a while before we see organizations returning to work at full capacity. When it does happen, it will require extensive planning and constantly evolving styles of people management. In addition to the logistics of phasing people back into the office and staggering shifts, you’ll need to work with your team to address their anxieties and make sure they feel comfortable in their environment. More →

November 13, 2020

Mental health continues to deteriorate as a result of the pandemic

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Morneau Shepell has published its monthly Mental Health Index report, which claims there is a a consistent trend of negative mental health among Britons at the seven-month mark of the pandemic. The Mental Health Index for October is -13.4, suggesting that Britons’ mental wellbeing continues to be at risk, with declining workplace productivity and the need for support adding to the continuing strain of the pandemic. More →

November 10, 2020

What Carl Sagan could teach us about knowledge and information

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

Unbelievably for those of us who saw him as a personal hero, yesterday marked the 24th anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan. At the time of his death in 1996, the Internet was very much in its infancy but Sagan could see what was coming, including how we need to filter what is valuable from the deluge of information we now bob around in. Sagan put it like this: “all of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.” More →

November 9, 2020

More stability in sight for employment but three in ten employers still planning redundancies

by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Working lives

The pace of deterioration in UK job prospects is starting to slow this autumn due to very modest improvements in planned recruitment activity and a slight decrease in employers’ intentions to make redundancies. This is according to the latest quarterly CIPD/the Adecco Group Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey – involving more than 1000 employers and covering all sectors of the economy. More →