The latest L&D news, reports, research and company updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook
TJ podcast: Disruption in work and learning
The latest episode of the Training Journal podcast has a look at disruption and what we can do about it. Interviews with Laura Overton, Jeremy Snape, Jane Bozarth and more!
How people really feel about their jobs
Drewberry™ wanted to understand how UK employees really feel about their workplace.
68% of employees are happy in their current job, this is a slight increase from last year (66%).
51% of employees are considering a job move in the next 12 months.
Flexibility remains high on their agenda of most-valued perks.
Tom Conner, Director of Drewberry: “This report shines a light on what truly matters to today’s workforce. It’s not just about the pay check anymore – our employees are craving balance, recognition, and meaningful benefits. With half of the workforce ready to jump ship for better pay and a more supportive work environment, it’s clear we need to rethink how we engage and retain talent.”
UK’s Best Workplaces for Women 2024
Great Place To Work® UK has unveiled its 2024 list of UK’s Best Workplaces for Women™
A total of 330 UK-based organisations from a range of industries including housing, financial services, tech, and pharmaceuticals, have earned official recognition for driving an inclusive and equitable workplace culture for women.
The list is produced by the UK branch of Great Place To Work – the global authority on workplace culture. The companies on the list are committed to removing barriers to women’s career advancement and creating workplaces where all employees, regardless of gender, can flourish.
Research: People still want to work. They just want control over their time
Workers — particularly those considered “knowledge workers” who are able to do most if not all of their work with a laptop and an internet connection — have been fighting for the right to maintain control over their time for years.
While working from home in 2020 and 2021, they demonstrated to their bosses that they are able to maintain, or in some cases even increase, their productivity while working flexibly.
Their bosses, on the other hand, have been pulling them in the opposite direction; executives and managers have been fighting to get workers back into the offices that companies are paying a lot of money to lease.
Employers and staff optimistic about impact of new technologies
A YouGov survey commissioned by British Safety Council among 4018 UK employers and employees reveals that both employers and employees are optimistic about the impact new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will have on their workplace – even though decision makers feel more optimistic than staff.
When asked how likely or unlikely they think it is that their job will be replaced or superseded by AI in the next 10 years, 68% of employees thought it unlikely and just 23% said it was likely. Among the employers, 20% thought less than 10% of their workforce would be replaced by 2034, while 6% of employers did think that over 50% of their workforce could go.
Remote workers have highest productivity and best work-life balance
A new report from employment tech unicorn Employment Hero, The State of Wellbeing at Work, reveals that fully remote workers are happier and more productive than those who work full time in the office or hybrid.
67% of fully remote workers rate their work productivity as high, compared to only 54% of hybrid workers
The report indicated that remote workers have the best work-life balance in the UK: 59% of fully remote workers thought they had time to relax, compared to 46% of fully in-office/onsite workers. It also revealed that 57% of fully remote workers were more likely to feel that their work-life balance had improved in the last 3 months versus 44% of hybrid workers and 38% of fully in-office/onsite workers.
Can AI learn like us?
“As impressive as ChatGPT and all these current AI technologies are, in terms of interacting with the physical world, they’re still very limited. Even in things they do, like solve math problems and write essays, they take billions and billions of training examples before they can do them well,” says NeuroAI Scholar Kyle Daruwalla.
Daruwalla designed a new way for AI algorithms to move and process data much more efficiently, based on how our brains take in new information.
And finally – tell us what you want!
I’d love to know more about you, your work, and what you want from TJ.
There’s a really short survey that asks about the work you do and what constructive feedback you have about Training Journal – I’d love to know what works for you, and what doesn’t.
As you know, the world is about data, and this information will help us go from strength to strength!
