SOCIAL - BLOG
CIPD @CIPD These companies blew millions
on back to work plans. And for what? https://
wired.co.uk/article/return-to-work-officecost
via @WiredUK with commentary from
the @cipd’s @dds180 #Homeworking
#RemoteWorking
David Emanuel @davidifm
RICS plans redundancies as pandemic bites,
a consultation on 150-170 jobs. @IWFM_UK
#facman membership appears to be free
falling and its revenues are also severely being
affected by events unable to take place. FM is
feeling the effects too.
Andy Erskine linkedin.com/in/awerskine
It was always good to meet with clients (albeit
socially distanced), but especially great to
meet with a client that wants to tell you for an
hour how great the team are, then presents you
with a whole host of opportunities to look at for
them. Well done Joanna Kennedy and the rest
of your team. #facilitiesmanagement #team
#socialdistancing #opportunities #teamwork
#leadership
Bruce Daisley @brucedaisley Home working,
the data is in.
- Every age group prefers being at home
- People feel better doing most tasks
- Only bosses with private work offices find
things worse
- Many workers won’t accept 5 days in the
office again
Simon Jacobs linkedin.com/in/simonjacobs
0175831 Marketing Director, EMEA
at SoftBank Robotics EMEA - Whiz - Much
like #healthandsocialcareworkers who have
displayed incredible bravery and commitment
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, #cleaners
have made a vital contribution to fighting
COVID-19 and protecting the wider public over
the past six months - to this I say thank you!
Living Wage Foundation @LivingWageUK
“While we’re all caught in the same storm,
we’re not in the same boat.” LWF Director
Katherine Chapman responds to @
resfoundation’s report that the wages of 2
million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers will rise
by just 15p next April.
18 OCTOBER 2020
BLOG FROM RORY MURPHY, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR, VINCI FACILITIES
HARSH
REALITIES
I look forward to the day when I can write
a blog about anything other than the
continued e ect that the COVID pandemic is
having on our economy and sector. The progress
we have all made in getting our teams back into
the o ice and rediscovering the importance of
culture and personality in business have been
sadly curtailed by the recent spike in infections
and the resulting shi in Government guidance.
Counter to the multiple surveys about home
working, and the huge body of academic research
supporting the notion that the o ice is dead, the
basic truth is that people have enjoyed seeing
their colleagues in the working arena and talking
in a human not digital environment. COVID
compliant workspaces are now common place
and many of us have simply adjusted to working
with the restrictions and controls that these new
environments create and to some degree learning
to work alongside the virus.
A public health crisis is now manifesting itself
as an economic crisis as businesses across the
UK come to terms with the multiple components
of furlough ending, increasing infection rates
and the ramping up of both local and national
restrictions. The social impact of this pandemic
is now obvious with the number of redundancies
in the UK accelerating at the fastest pace since
the financial crisis despite more than half of
furloughed workers returning to their jobs a er
lockdown ended.
As the furlough scheme comes to an end the
O ice for National Statistics (ONS) said 156,000
people were made redundant in the three
months to July which is the largest quarterly rise
since 2009, the 3rd quarter figures are likely to
be no better. The ONS research indicated that
695,000 workers had been lost from company
payrolls since March, with a disproportionate
number of those jobs being lost a ecting the
young as the economy plunges into the deepest
recession on record.
The FM sector is by no means immune to this
bad news and as furlough finishes it is clear
that sectors such as catering and events will be
decimated and those cleaning and engineering
teams that work in retail, hospitality, travel or
commercial property will see a huge downturn
in demand and therefore a requirement to
reduce headcount. The impact is also being felt
Rory Murphy, Commercial Director, VINCI Facilities
by our institutions with the 150-year-old RICS
announcing 170 redundancies only this week
which equates to almost 20 per cent of their sta .
But how do we respond? Much of the economic
pain of this pandemic is being borne by the
lowest paid in our communities or the youngest
generations and there is a very real risk that the
social scars of this pandemic will long outlast the
public health impacts.
Some elements of our sector are tackling
these challenges head on with members of
the food service sector for example coming
together to launch ‘Food Service Circle’ (FSC) – a
platform that o ers support to those working
in the food service sector, o ering free training,
counselling, advice and job opportunities. This
collective e ort may not be reciprocated across
the industry so we need to react. The response
though has to embrace the opportunities that
this pandemic has presented and maybe concede
that some roles in the medium term will just be
lost… As Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said – we
cannot protect every job.
Our response in the FM sector must be to
embrace the digital reality of our new world, to
create opportunities aligned to a green recovery,
to upskill and realign some of the people in
our sector to repurposing, rethinking and
redeveloping the built environment. The retail,
travel, events and commercial sectors will exist
a er this pandemic, they will just have been
disrupted and altered in ways that we could
never have imagined only 12 months ago.
Our FM sector is famed for its agility, we are
flexible and innovative by our nature… We
forecast over the last few years that our sector
would be disrupted and we already knew that we
faced huge environmental challenges to protect
our planet. Little did we know that when that
disruption came, it would be super-charged by
a social and economic catastrophe which would
change the landscape of our sector forever.
ADVICE & OPINION