April 30, 2021
Search Results for: working hours
April 21, 2021
Majority of UK workers don’t want to go back to the office until everyone is vaccinated
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing
As lockdown starts to lift, more people are having to think about going back to work as normal. That means commutes, offices, cafeterias, and face to face meetings. CPD Online College, surveyed over 1,000 UK employees to find out how they feel about returning to the office prior to everyone being vaccinated. (more…)
March 25, 2021
Fifth of managers consider quitting as COVID burnout strikes
by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Working lives
More than six in ten UK managers have experienced burnout at work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a fifth considering quitting their job as a result, according to new research from Benenden Health. (more…)
March 19, 2021
More than a quarter of the workforce describes itself as depressed since the pandemic
by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing, Working lives
A Gartner, Inc. survey of more than 5,000 employees conducted in the fourth quarter of 2020 claims that more than one-quarter of the workforce (29 percent) described itself as depressed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same survey claims that nearly half (49 percent) of employees who reported their organisation offers a mental well-being program participated in it in 2020. (more…)
March 18, 2021
From the archive: Escaping the gravity of the fixed times and places of work
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Technology, Wellbeing, Working culture
In November 2019, just before that thing happened, there was this…
The worst workplace related news story of 2019 is also one of the most widely reported. I’m not linking to it because I don’t want to give it any credibility, but it has been discharged into the ether by Fellowes along with a ‘behavioural futurist’ called William Higham. I will say only two things about it. Firstly, we flatly refused to publish a story about the damn thing and it’s a shame that the mainstream media couldn’t spot it for the utter drivel it is. The fact that they have picked up on it says something about the way such issues are covered in the press. That’s why you’re more likely to see a stress-related story about rats driving cars on the BBC than you are something meaningful. (more…)
March 15, 2021
Serfs up for the self-employed and gig economy workers (and the middle class)
by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Working culture
One of the most significant consequences of the 2008 economic crash was a remarkable shift in the nature of employment. The recession led to a surge in the number of people categorised as self-employed. The numbers have been increasing ever since, albeit at a lower rate. By the end of 2019, the number of self-employed people in the UK exceeded five million people for the first time. Fifteen percent of the workforce. (more…)
March 8, 2021
The new dimensions of workplace wellbeing
by Beatriz Arantes • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design
A healthy, engaged and productive work environment starts with conversations about people’s needs. So whether you have always been on a co-located team or are a veteran of remote work, there are new circumstances and the old rulebook doesn’t quite help. The change has been sudden, in a sustained moment of uncertainty, and has disrupted employee routines and support structures. (more…)
March 6, 2021
Well, at least nobody is whinging about open plan offices anymore
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design
Years of pathologising offices should have prepared us for the patholigisation of virtual spaces. It seems like months since anybody has come out with that tired old rant about open plan. Certain vociferous and obsessive authors on the subject have had to find some other outlet for whatever their real problem is. Still, it’s not hard right now to find similar stuff about the toxicity of virtual meetings and especially those hosted by poor old Zoom, who get the blame for everything.
March 5, 2021
Half of employers don’t have a financial wellbeing policy
by Jayne Smith • Business, News, Wellbeing
Despite the financial hardship wrought by COVID-19, half of employers (49 percent) don’t have a financial wellbeing policy. This is according to the latest Reward Management Survey from the CIPD (which 420 employers responded to). (more…)
March 2, 2021
Progress for women in work back at 2017 levels due to COVID-19
by Jayne Smith • News, Working culture
March 1, 2021
Zoom fatigue is real and has four basic causes
by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing
The much discussed idea of Zoom fatigue turns out to be a real phenomenon according to new peer reviewed research from Stanford academics. The study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Technology, Mind, and Behaviour found that meetings conducted via video calls leave participants feeling more exhausted and emotionally drained than those held face to face. The study found the four most important factors that make video calls so exhausting; the constant need for eye contact, the ability to see one’s own face constantly during meetings, the need to sit still for long periods and difficulties in interpreting or communicating via body language. (more…)















Progress for women in work could be back at 2017 levels by the end of this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis conducted for 


March 9, 2021
The office will bounce back, but not as we remember it
by Luke Munro • Comment, Property, Workplace design