news

Career - 29.04.2021

Window views and smaller offices improve productivity
Workers in open plan offices who face the room, are next to a window and have few or no desks behind them are more productive, according to a new study by UCL researchers. Smaller open-plan offices with fewer desks in also help workers to feel more focused and productive, the researchers found. For the study, published in PLOSONE, researchers studied four floors of the London headquarters of a large international technology company, collecting a staff survey on workspace satisfaction as well as specific information on office seating positions of all participants and a marked floorplan.

Career - 21.04.2021

Little evidence entry into the UK Armed Forces before age 18 increases PTSD risk
Two studies led by researchers from the University of Glasgow and King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) at King's College London have found there is little evidence that early recruitment to the UK Armed Forces is associated with an adverse impact on long-term mental health, despite previously raised concerns.

Health - Career - 12.03.2021

Covid-19 vaccine linked to a reduction in transmission
News - Public Health Scotland Vaccination of Scotland's healthcare workers offers some protection against transmission of Covid-19 to their household contacts. A study of all healthcare workers employed by the NHS in Scotland and their households (which has not yet been peer-reviewed), shows that the rate of infection with Covid-19 for people that live with healthcare workers is at least 30% lower when the worker has been vaccinated mostly with a single dose.

Career - Economics / Business - 16.02.2021

How has the pandemic impacted our wellbeing?
New research from Professor Roger Gill, helps us to understand the impact of ongoing Covid-19 restrictions on mental health and wellbeing. The study, delivered in partnership with Professor Matt Grawitch and colleagues at St Louis University in Missouri, surveyed people living and working across the UK, France, Germany, Canada and the US.

Career - 11.02.2021

LGBT+ workers experience higher levels of conflict at work, shows new report
Last updated on Friday 19 February 2021 The CIPD is today launching a new research report, co-authored by the School of Management's Dr Luke Fletcher , to highlight how LGBT+ workers tend to have a more negative experience of work.

Career - Innovation - 02.02.2021

New book explores the challenges of working from home
Academics from the University of Sussex Business School and Coventry University have teamed up to produce a groundbreaking book on agile working and working from home. The new book draws on new and existing research and literature to provide impactful insights and new findings into the impact of home-working and technology on productivity and personal welfare.

Health - Career - 09.12.2020

Healthcare workers 7 times as likely to have severe COVID-19 as other workers
Healthcare workers are seven times as likely to have severe COVID-19 infection as those with other types of 'non-essential' jobs, finds research led by the University of Glasgow which focused on the first UK-wide lockdown The study, which is published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine, found those with jobs in the social care and transport sectors are twice as likely to have severe COVID-19, emphasising the need to ensure that essential (key) workers are adequately protected against the infection, say the researchers.

Health - Career - 20.11.2020

Prior COVID-19 infection offers protection from re-infection for at least six months
A new study suggests that individuals who have previously had COVID-19 are highly unlikely to contract the illness again, for at least six months following their first infection.  The study, done as part of a major collaboration between the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, was published today as a pre-print.

Health - Career - 10.11.2020

New research on Primary Care Networks reports significant progress, and challenges ahead
Primary care networks need to increase the engagement of GP practices and wider primary care teams, and strengthen their leadership and management, to become firmly established to meet the challenges ahead, says a new study by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) BRACE Rapid Evaluation Centre undertaken by researchers at the University of Birmingham and RAND Europe.

Health - Career - 30.10.2020

First study to assess risk of COVID-19 to health of care workers in Wales
The first study to establish the risk of COVID-19 to care workers across Wales is to launch today. The pandemic is thought to have had a major impact on the health of the 20,000 workers who offer personal care and support to the elderly or people with life-limiting conditions in their own homes. The study, led by Cardiff University, in partnership with Public Health Wales and Swansea University and supported by Social Care Wales, is funded by UK Research and Innovation.

Environment - Career - 19.10.2020

Climate scientists fly more than other researchers, first global study suggests
Climate change researchers, especially professors, fly more than other researchers - but are also more likely to have taken steps to reduce or offset their flying, a new study has found. The large, international survey of more than 1,400 university researchers was carried out by the UK Centre for Climate and Social Transformation (CAST), which is coordinated by Cardiff University.

Career - Psychology - 05.10.2020

Reactions to perceived broken promises lead to workplace stress for police officers
Negative feelings resulting from perceived broken promises from employers within UK police forces are a major cause of workplace stress, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. In a study of police officers, researchers from the University's School of Psychology found that employees who perceive a violation of their psychological contract - the negative emotional reactions in response to perceived broken promises at work - are at greater risk of job-related stress, anxiety and depression.

Career - 14.09.2020

’Evidence is crucial’ for philanthropists to determine charity donations says new research
Research from the University of Birmingham has concluded that the process of giving to charity has to be grounded in evidence rather than reaction.

Career - 28.08.2020

UK productivity could be improved by a permanent shift towards remote working
Nine out of ten employees who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue doing so in some capacity, research suggests. The report, by academics at Cardiff University and the University of Southampton, presents the first analysis of employee survey data focusing on homeworking, which was gathered for the Understanding Society Covid-19 Study.

Pedagogy - Career - 29.07.2020

The future of work is flexible - says new study
Lockdown has also had a disproportionately negative impact on parents, especially mothers, with a majority noting that they have been carrying out more housework and care New research from the University of Kent and the University of Birmingham has found that mass homeworking during the COVID-19 lockdown has presented significant challenges for parents, particularly mothers, but has also changed the way that many people intend to work in the future.

Health - Career - 27.07.2020

Earlier lockdown would have saved lives of London bus drivers, suggests review
An independent review into the deaths of London bus drivers from COVID-19, led by the UCL Institute of Health Equity suggests an earlier lockdown would have saved lives. The review also shows that many of the drivers who died had underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk during the pandemic.  The independent review was commissioned by Transport for London (TfL) as an urgent response to understand more about the factors relating to the tragic deaths of colleagues in the bus industry.

Health - Career - 27.07.2020

Review into deaths of London bus drivers suggests earlier lockdown would have saved lives
An independent review into the deaths of London bus drivers from COVID-19, led by the UCL Institute of Health Equity suggests an earlier lockdown would have saved lives The review also shows that many of the drivers who died had underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk  greater risk during the pandemic.

Health - Career - 24.07.2020

New Programme Helps Frontline Healthcare Workers at Risk from PTSD and Depression
Researchers from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford have developed a new mental health treatment programme to provide frontline healthcare workers with 1-to-1 support, including fast-track access to PTSD or depression treatment. This evidence-based programme, called SHAPE Recovery , builds on an outreach programme shown to reduce rates of PTSD and depression.

Career - Economics / Business - 03.07.2020

Unequal paths to recovery as economy reopens
Low-income workers are almost twice as likely to be laid-off or furloughed as high-income workers, according to a new UCL study examining income and consumption effects of Covid-19. The working paper, published by Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research , highlights that a significant proportion of those low-income workers - 70 percent from the bottom fifth of the income distribution - have struggled to afford living costs.

Career - Health - 25.06.2020

Economic impact of Covid-19 compounding existing inequalities in Wales, report finds
Wales's lowest earners were ten times more likely to have been affected by the Covid-19 shutdown than those on the highest salaries, research shows. The briefing paper from Cardiff University's Wales Governance Centre says almost half of those bringing home the smallest incomes were working in jobs that were forced to stop due to the lockdown.