PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

  As we slowly but surely emerge from the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is becoming clear that whilst some things may return to what they were prior to last March’s first lockdown, other elements of our lives will have been changed irrevocably.  In particular, the fact that nearly all of us have had to stay at home for most of the last fourteen months means that our relationship with the locality in which we live has probably changed forever. This phenomenon was explored in a recent report from the thinktank Demos and financial business Legal & General that looked specifically at post-pandemic places. This was done through a poll of 20,000 adults in Britain during December 2020 and was followed up two months later with a series of focus groups The results are fascinating and reinforces the view that the way we perceive at ‘place’ has changed and actually become stronger during the pandemic which, of course, will cause a change in behaviour into the mediu...

Imagine finishing work on a Thursday evening and then not having to go back to your employer until Monday morning? The idea of a four-day working week is what an increasing number of economists, thinktanks and even businesses are contemplating for a whole variety of different reasons including increased productivity, greater work-life balance and more efficient use of resources within both large and small organisations. Whilst some in industry may be thinking that this may have a negative impact on their businesses, the reality is that for many years there has been a realisation that too many hours of working are not good for productivity or, more importantly, for the health of workers. In fact, John Maynard Keynes suggested back in 1930 that advancements in. technology and living standards would result in a fifteen hour week by the end of the century with the main challenge being the use of an individual’s time to live “wisely” rather than working for other people. And whil...

Last month, the Women and Work All Party Parliamentary Group (consisting of members from the House of Commons and House of Lords) published a new guide ‘How to Recruit Women for the 21st Century’ to challenge employers and policy makers to address the persistent obstacles that women face when entering, progressing in, and returning to the workplace. Yet again, it showed that closing the gender gap remains a major issue across all major economies globally and one that is holding back the vast potential of women, especially within the corporate world. Interestingly, the best example of how much more needs to be done to address gender inequalities can be found in a recent examination of this problem within the World’s largest economy, the USA. Last year, a report from the management consultants McKinsey – which undertook a survey of over 64,000 employees across 279 major employers - showed that whilst businesses are committed to gender diversity, that commitment has simply not c...

A few years ago, mental health was not seen as an important issue within many workplaces across the UK. Fortunately, this issue has changed and it is now seen as not only a key concern personally for a growing number of employees but as a major influencer on productivity within the UK economy. For example, recent studies have shown that mental health issues results in 91 million working days lost in the UK every year which is equivalent to nearly £100 billion. For example, a report published by the medical technology company Mynerva which suggested that around 7.5 million workers in the UK are suffering from some sort of mental health issue and, worst still, 44 per cent have not informed their employer as they feel it may damage their job prospects. Another study – the Stress Epidemic – showed that found that over two thirds of UK workers experienced high to moderate stress levels with 42 per cent of regularly losing sleep because of workplace stress. One key issue regarding men...

The issue of mental health within the workforce has become a key concern for many employers over the last 12 months. More relevantly, both the UK and Welsh Governments have recognised that this issue is one in which they can intervene by promoting better wellbeing within both public and private organisations. A report last year by Monitor Deloitte - the multinational strategy consulting practice of Deloitte Consulting - showed the extent of this problem within the UK and, more relevantly, the negative impact on the UK economy. It estimated that poor mental health costs UK employers between £33 billion and £42 billion each year which is made up largely of absence from work (£8 billion), presenteeism i.e. attending work whilst ill and therefore not performing at full ability (£17 billion-£26 billion) and employee turnover due to mental health (£8 billion). Whilst the public sector makes up roughly a fifth of the UK labour force, it is responsible for around a quarter of the tota...

The major challenge for educational systems across the World is not only about developing skills within young people (although that is a critical issue in many countries). In fact, the real issue is about addressing the need for reskilling amongst the existing workforce with the OECD reporting that over 25 per cent of adults have reported a mismatch between their current skillset and qualifications needed for their jobs. More critically, 35 per cent of the skills that are needed across industries will change over the next two years. That is why a recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) should be compulsory reading for politicians and policymakers who are trying to address some of the key competitiveness and productivity questions within their economies. “Accelerating Workforce Reskilling for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” examines some of the key challenges for greater lifelong learning for the existing workforce and comes up with a series of key recommendation...

Stress in the workplace is becoming a major issue for organisations and according to the latest statistics, there were 488,000 cases of work related stress, depression or anxiety last year, which equates to roughly 1.5 workers out of every 100 in the UK. Whilst this may seem low, it actually means a loss of 11.7 million days across all businesses (or roughly ten per cent of each affected worker’s time). Not surprisingly, public service occupations such as health workers and teachers show the highest levels of stress with reasons such as workload pressures, including deadlines, too much responsibility and lack of management support, cited as being the main factors. These are merely the official statistics for those who actually time off and do not include the millions of workers who still come into work but who may be demotivated by their job or where they work because of factors such as low pay, few opportunities for promotion and a lack of challenging work. But it is...