This report from the University of Birmingham Business School and the University of York explores four key areas of change since the pandemic: managers' changing attitudes towards flexible working since the start of the pandemic; managers' future intentions in terms of support for flexible working; changes in spatial flexibility and use of office space; and changes around consultation and surveillance in the workplace.
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Sustainability
Going back to “the old way” of doing things is no longer an option as we move forward in the hybrid work era, especially after two years of positive outcomes for employees and employers alike. In fact, 62% of employees agree that their ability to work from anywhere impacts whether they stay at or leave a job.
However, with only 1 in 4 employees saying their company is ‘very prepared’ for the future of hybrid work, more needs to be done to embed hybrid work arrangements and reimagine the employee experience. Cisco explore more in this recent research study.
This report from Strategy+Business reveals that empowered workers feel a sense of autonomy, influence, confidence, and meaning at work. These workers are not only happier but perform better at their jobs. In terms of statistical composite, the research identifies the most empowered worker as a male millennial or Gen Z manager in the technology sector who splits his time equally between in-office and remote work. The least empowered worker is identified as a Gen X or boomer female working in an office full time – most likely in government, retail, or healthcare. The data also shows that three out of the top four factors employees consider when looking for a new job relate to finding a sense of meaning and belonging at work and underscores the crucial role of organisations in helping employees be more engaged, motivated, and productive.
To close America’s chronic middle skills gap, U.S. employers have to partner much more actively than in the past with local community colleges. Due to waves of disruptive automation, the nature of middle skills jobs is evolving much faster than educators’ abilities to change curriculum.
Surveys of educators (pdf) and employers (pdf) reveal the disconnect behind this partnership’s underperformance and underscore the need for businesses to take the lead in making it more relevant and effective in three areas: training and education aligned with industry needs, commitments to hire community college students, and sharing of data on the supply and demand for talent.
This report by Tap’d Solutions focuses on the term “hybrid working” and how it has become part of our vocabulary, a key Google search term and in cases, a reason why we have stayed or left our job. Hybrid working is not new, even though some commentators seem to think it is. It was in our midst long before the pandemic hit yet, in most cases, it was ad hoc and informal in our approach to it.
But now in this post-pandemic world, many job roles and functions have been accelerated by pandemic lockdowns into a “hybrid first” working style expectation by current employees and applicants. Attempts to force workers into the office for the majority or all of their time has been often met with resistance and has soured organisation cultures and engagement levels.
This report from Accenture explores what people need to be healthy and productive as we enter a new era of work. The data shows that despite 83% of workers around the globe preferring a hybrid work model, businesses are still investing in the onsite work environment. The report emphasises that by asking the right questions, leaders can create more human-centric models of work today that will support business success in the future.
Nearly ten years on from Frey and Osborne’s 2013 study which warned that nearly half of jobs in the US were at high risk of automation, this report by the Resolution Foundation concludes that low investment and low productivity are more of a concern than robots taking jobs.
This new report by Economist Impact argues that human-centric strategies are needed for businesses to drive sustainable business growth. The Magnetic Workplace Barometer gauges confidence both today and in five years’ time across three main pillars: productivity and infrastructure; employee engagement; and culture.
This report from Deloitte explores how the path towards net zero is giving rise to a new ‘green collar workforce’ and predicts that this could create more than 300 million new jobs globally by 2050. It notes that with around one quarter of global jobs at risk from unchecked climate change, policy action to upskill and retrain workers can realise the potential of economic growth and drive greater equality as the world economy shifts to a low emissions production system.
KPMG’s 2022 CEO Outlook draws on the perspectives of 1,325 global CEOs to highlight their three-year outlook on the business and economic landscape. It finds that attracting and retaining talent is a top operational priority and that, while hybrid/remote working has had a positive impact on hiring, collaboration and productivity, the majority of CEOs want employees back in the office.