BULLETIN businessinfomag.uk magazine 08 HR THE RISE OF THE ANYWHEREWORKER The era of remote work caused by the pandemic has led to the emergence of a new generation of travelling workers, dubbed AnywhereWorkers by Fiverr and Lonely Planet in a new report based on a survey of 1,400 workers. The report’s authors point out that unlike digital nomads and #VanLife travellers, AnywhereWorkers aren’t limited to individuals in their early twenties with disposable incomes but also include families, couples and pods of friends who have made the choice to travel and work at the same time. The report claims that 75% of Anywhere Workers are parents and 45% are married, so when choosing where to travel many AnywhereWorkers, unlike Digital Nomads, look for locations that provide education facilities for their children and job opportunities for their partner, as well as being affordable and having good internet connectivity. More than half (54%) of Anywhere Workers identify themselves as remote workers (i.e. people who travel and aren’t limited to a single office location); about 25% consider themselves to be Slomads (i.e. people who work remotely and travel to different locations, sticking to one or more locations for extended periods). Over 60% work full-time but have the ability to travel to and work in different locations. Nine out of ten say that their earnings have increased (40%) or stayed the same since they started living this lifestyle. The majority of AnywhereWorkers have been traveling and working for 1-2 years, suggesting this trend was spurred by the pandemic, but with 98% wanting to continue working remotely and travelling for at least another 6 months, it looks set to continue for the foreseeable future. Gali Arnon, Chief Marketing Officer at Fiverr, said: “There has been a revolution in the way we work and where we work for millions of people around the world, and we can largely attribute this to the pandemic. More people from every walk of life are taking the opportunities that remote work and platforms like Fiverr offer them to travel the world and experience new ways of living.” HR BRITONS HAPPYWITH LIFE, NOTWORK The UK is home to one of the most dissatisfied workforces in Europe following a two percentage point fall in employee engagement levels over the last year, according to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace Report. Employee engagement among UK workers has declined steadily over the last decade. Just 9% of UK workers feel enthused by their work and workplace today, compared to 16% in Germany and 33% in Romania, home to Europe’s most engaged workforce. Across Europe, just 14% of people feel engaged with their work, with rates also dipping below 10% in Spain, France and Italy. This compares to average engagement levels of 33% in North America and 27% in South Asia. Workplaces with high employee engagement achieve higher productivity, better customer relationships, lower employee turnover and higher profitability. Despite low levels of employee engagement, Gallup’s report reveals that Britons still feel they enjoy a good quality of life. Although not as high as in Finland, where 84% of people think they are thriving, the UK at 60% (down one point on the year) outperforms most other European countries for life satisfaction, including Germany (56%), France (43%) and Spain (41%). HYBRIDWORKING RELUCTANT RETURNERS A CHALLENGE Reluctant returners are the number one challenge facing employers as they attempt to implement new hybrid working models, reveals new data from XpertHR, an online source of legal compliance, good practice and benchmarking information for HR professionals. Almost all (95%) of the 292 organisations surveyed for its third annual benchmarking survey on the future of the workplace said that they were currently operating a hybrid model, with 59% saying that staff generally spend 2 to 3 days working from home each week. However, 37% say staff are unhappy with this split and would prefer to spend even less time in the office. In XpertHR’s 2021 report, 75% of organisations said they had experienced unwillingness to return to the workplace. While the main reason then was concern around contracting Covid-19, reluctance now is less to do with the risks of going into the office and more to do with the benefits of working from home. These include saving money on commuting and childcare arrangements, a better work-life balance, increased productivity, improved engagement and, for employers, a positive impact on attracting and retaining staff. Respondents did identify some pitfalls, with 40% of UK organisations observing a growing disconnect and divide between staff members who work from home and those who go into the office. Noelle Murphy, Senior HR Practice Editor at XpertHR, said: “With hybrid working, HR have managed one of the biggest changes to working life since the industrial revolution, but it is still a work in progress. Challenges continue and HR will need to continue to address these, while ensuring this new way of working delivers for all employees – and that includes people managers and senior leaders.” http://www.xperthr.co.uk AU S T R A L I A A N D N E W Z E A L A N D S O U T H E A S T A S I A S O U T H A S I A E A S T A S I A S U B - S A H A R A N A F R I C A M I D D L E E A S T A N D N O R T H A F R I C A C OMMO NW E A LT H O F I N D E P E N D E N T S TAT E S E U R O P E L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N U N I T E D S TAT E S A N D C A N A DA State of the Global Workplace 2022 Report THE VO I CE OF THE WOR LD ’ S EMPLOY E E S Discover how employees around the world experienced life and work last year. Employee Engagement and Life Evaluation | Daily Negative Emotions Environmental, Social and Governance | Job Market Gail Arnon
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