Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Commuting and congestion is a serious topic with workers but as it is Friday tomorrow I though I would post something light about the topic. A few driving points to consider when you are stuck in traffic (not my points before you complain!!)
Women in Ireland cause more traffic congestion then men. Not because they are worse driver but because they are more likely to be in the car. Women are likely to use their car to travel to work, to go to the supermarket, to pick up dry cleaning and dropping children to school.
Women also get more abuse on the roads from men and other women. Men and women are more likely to beep at women.
Finally the level of corruption in a country can be linked to safety on its roads (interesting). This point is backed up by the fact that Norway, New Zealand and Sweden are least corrupt and have the safest roads.
On the subject of roads and cars …..
Why do women not acknowledge when you show them courtesy on the road? A little hand salute or the hazard lights would be nice.
Why do so many drivers stubbornly insist on staying in the fast lane when they have a queue of cars behind? (My pet hate on the road)
Tags: Careers, Commuting, HR, Jobs, M50, Traffic, Women drivers, Worklife Balance
Posted in HR, HR & Recruitment | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Is this a change of Business in Ireland as we know it.
I could never see the attraction of firms locating in central Dublin. High costs, congestion, expensive sarnies and coffee. Do they pay for expensive offices in city center Dublin to get the staff??
Hmmmmmmm
I though most employees were living in Navan, Cavan, Kinnegad, Drogheda, Dundalk, Naas, Newbridge, Wicklow, Gorey, Bray ….. basically everywhere except Dublin.
Looks like there is even more incentive for firms to locate outside the capital as survey today announced that most commuters from Wicklow would be willing to take a paycut to work closer to home. This means that all commuters would be willing to do so.
Commuters spend on average 2hrs per day on trains planes and automobiles. I guess the penny has actually dropped that the extra 10k for working in Dublin is not worth 10-15 hours a week.
I am going to start a bring the jobs to the people campaign encouraging employers to relocated to the leafy suburbs cutting stress, traffic congestion, costs and improving life for us all.
Tags: Arklow, Bray, Careers, Carlow, Cavan, Commuters, Congestion, Drogheda, Dundalk, Gorey, HR, Jobs, Kildare, Kilkenny, Kinnegad, M50, Meath, Naas, Navan, Newbridge, Newry, Offaly, Travel, Westmeath, Wicklow, WLB, Worklife Balance
Posted in HR, Jobs, News, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Did you know that the average smoker spends almost a full year of their working life having smoking breaks? That’s a lot of cigarettes. The average smoker takes three 15 minute breaks per day which equates to 195 hours per year. The introduction of the smoking ban has meant that many smokers now have to travel further from their desks (I guess the exercise will help).
Anyway this is a huge cost on employers. I do know of some employers who have started to monitor this more and put in measures to reduce smoke breaks. Many employers see them as negative and a breeding ground for gossip. Fellow non-smoker employee will also not be too happy with these finding as the will carry the additional workload.
Why do we smoke?
Could it be that 1 in 4 workers find their job stressful? A combination of increased working hours and commuting hours has seen stress levels rise in Ireland. Over a third of Irish workers are spending more time working and commuting than they used to. Well work life balance day will soon be upon us to resolve all this stress.
Tags: Cigarettes, Commuting, Employees, Employers, Irish Firms, M50, Smokers, Smoking Ban, Smoking Breaks, Stress, Travel, Work-life Balance
Posted in HR, Work-life Balance | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
There has been a 2.8bn plan put in place to upskill 500,000 workers in Ireland by 2020. The government will have this plan in place by the summer. We were promised The Port Tunnel, Airport Transport Links , M50 all on-time and on budget so I am asking you not to hold out for the summer deadline or proposed cost. This aside I think it is an excellent initiative. It will be a huge project and it will involve bodies like FAS, Universities, VEC’s, employers and obviously the workers.
The obvious problem here is getting the balance right for employers – current versus future demands. Employers on the one hand will reap the long-term benefits of a better skilled workforce BUT in the short term they have to cope with supporting staff through the education and training.
There will have to be flexibility by staff and employees but as we have seen recently with various trade union employer spats and even GAA spats that the various stakeholders in a situation are often not prepared to give ground
Tags: FAS, GAA, Government, Ireland, M50, Port Tunnel, Trade Unions, Universities, Upskill, VEC
Posted in HR, News | No Comments »
