Latest news with #postCovid
News24
25-05-2025
- Business
- News24
Warmer colours, more plants: SA employers go for homey offices to lure staff back
SA offices are adopting designs inspired by nature, with trending greens, blues, browns, and beiges to lure staff back on-site after working from home. Warmer tones replace outdated cool palettes, with Pantone's Mocha Mousse – a warm brown – as Pantone colour of the year. Home-inspired office design reflects the mood of post-Covid office work. For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page. In a bid to get employees out of their homes and back on-site after the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies are upping the office offering by creating more homey spaces that offer more than just a cubicle. Colour plays a key role, according to Linda Trim, director of Giant Leap, workplace design consultants and according to Trend Group, office interior designers, there is a 'growing trend towards earthy and organic tones'. The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) shows a strengthening of overall vacancy rates from 16.1% to 13.7% from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2024, indicating an increased demand for office space. 'As more companies call employees back to work and return-to-work policies are common, they are also rethinking workplace design in hopes of boosting productivity and motivation. New uses of colour will be a big part of that, in what comes next for the workplace,' said Trim. 'The thoughtful application of colour in the workplace is a confluence of psychology, brand alignment and functional design. As organisations continue to evolve and embrace new ways of working, colour remains a powerful yet underutilised resource in shaping workplace culture and performance,' said Tandi Jacobs, general manager at ID Internal Developers. Trend Group "strategically employ[s] shades of blue in areas demanding concentration, leveraging its proven ability to enhance focus and create a sense of calm. Supplied/ Trend Group Greens, blues and neutral tones are popular choices for office interiors, according to Trim, also that nature-inspired design (biophilia) is on trend right now as it creates a relaxed atmosphere that helps create a homey feel. 'Blues and greens are associated with calmness and stability. These hues reduce anxiety and promote sustained focus, making them ideal for spaces requiring concentration, such as private offices, quiet work areas or meeting rooms,' said Jacobs. It's all in the plants An integral part of the biophilic interior style, live greenery, is also a popular design element and, according to Trim, is a big part of getting people back to work. The one common theme we are seeing in all our office designs of late is greenery,' said Jacobs. According to Jacobs, the biophilic colour palette promotes a calm, comforting environment that does not cause overstimulation. These include not only greens and blues, but also warm browns and soft beiges. According to Trend Group, bold accents are also in. Deep blues, rich oranges, and vibrant yellows add visual interest and personality. Jacobs believes colour can transform the workplace into a more human, functional and forward-looking environment. In the recent past, a cooler palette of whites and greys were on trend, but clients increasingly prefer warmer, neutral palettes like creams and warm greys, according to Jacobs. 'This could be because it creates a warmer, homely look and feel, and could be aligning more on the Pantone colour of the year, Pantone 17-1230 Mocha Mousse and more recently, Cinnamon Slate 2113-40,' she said. 'People got very used to their homely environments in Covid, and wanted a similar feel from the office on their return,' added Trim.
Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Working from beach had its time in the sun. Now it's back to offices
It's 10am and half the tables at a bijou café near Finchley Central Tube station in London are empty. Back in January the place was packed, unofficially converted into a co-working space with laptops trailing from every plug socket. This week, the barista said, most of the iced latte orders were takeaways for commuters. It is a visible sign that the post-Covid change in Britain's working patterns, when flexible hours and working from home (WFH) looked like a permanent trend, is now reversing. Flexibility was a key perk during the ultra-competitive hiring market but the tougher labour market has given employers the upper hand. Job vacancies fell to the lowest level in nearly four years in April, according to the Office for National Statistics,
Irish Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Is Irish whiskey on the rocks?
The boom appeared to be very much back for the Irish whiskey business. In the aftermath of the pandemic, consumer demand went through the roof, prompting an explosion in new distilleries – suddenly supply chased demand. 'We were guilty of – hubris is a great word – but of getting caught up in the euphoria that took place in '23,' the founder of Great Northern Distillery John Teeling said recently. 'We expanded our production up to 20 million litres a year – that was about 1.25 million to 1.5 million bottles a week. That's a lot of whiskey . . . and we made plans to double it. We did all kinds of crazy things.' They certainly weren't the only ones in the Irish whiskey industry to get caught up in the euphoria of booming post-Covid demand. The surge in the number of distillers is impressive, from just four in 2010 to somewhere north of 50 today – even Ibec's Irish Whiskey Association couldn't give an exact number when asked this week. READ MORE The big problem for the small-scale producers who flooded into the market during the pandemic is timing. Whiskey isn't gin. You can't found a brand and start selling a month later. Those that came into existence during the pandemic would be reaching the end of the three-year period in which their product is mandated to sit in wooden barrels, often expensively imported oak, to qualify as Irish whiskey. This lead time, with rising electricity prices and interest rates, is expensive. [ Irish whiskey is undergoing a market correction, a temporary blip, a 'little pause' Opens in new window ] In theory, that previously-clear distilled alcohol has now become liquid gold, perfect to erase the debt required to fund its production. In reality it is now hard to shift and expensive to store – leaving debts mounting. The result is small distilleries that will be forced to take a hit on already-thin profit margins, hundreds of staff unsure of their future and a long-awaited pay-off, when it comes, that will struggle to refill the coffers. Ireland's whiskey industry is in trouble, it might not be on the rocks just yet, but it is veering dangerously close. While nobody could doubt the spirit of producers, the viability of more than 50 distilleries is less certain.
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I've been suffering from snoring noise on my lung since contracting Covid – can this be cured?
OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice. Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader developed an asthmatic type snoring noise post-Covid. 2 2 Q)I'M a very fit 79-year-old male suffering from an asthmatic type/snoring noise on my lung, which I developed post-Covid. It's more pronounced when I lie down in bed. I go abroad every year in the hope the hot weather will dry my lungs, but without success. I am not asthmatic. Can this be cured, or is it a side effect of statins which I have been taking for over two years? A: Many different types of sounds can be heard in the lungs, which suggest a change in the way that air is flowing, and different sounds give clues towards different things. A 'snoring' type sound would suggest mucus or something else is causing an obstruction. Have you had it investigated? If not, then you should, initially with an examination by your GP and a chest X-ray. Statins can cause a lung disorder called interstitial lung disease, but it's a very rare side effect and the typical symptoms are cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, or loss of appetite with weight loss. If you have any of these symptoms, it's important to let your GP know, as they can overlap with other lung diseases. As you've had it for years and describe yourself as 'very fit' it's reassuring that it's unlikely to be sinister. TIP: Do you have a burning question about weight-loss jabs, like Ozempic? Are you curious about the side effects, whether they're right for you, or how to best eat while you're on them? I'm calling on Sun readers to send me their questions for a Live Q&A on the hot topic. No question is too big, small or silly! Send your questions to me at the address below. Lots of people snore... So when is it really a concern? Dr Verena Senn, sleep expert at Emma Sleep, told The Sun when snoring could indicate sleep apnoea - a sleep condition that causes breathing to repeatedly stop and re-start when you're asleep. The main symptoms are feeling very tired, finding it hard to concentrate and having mood swings, the NHS says. Dr Senn said that sleep apnoea can often go undetected as it can happen without the patient's knowing. "Sleep partners can therefore play a crucial role in recognising this serious disease so it can be treated." You should tell your partner to visit their GP if: Their snoring is really loud They stop breathing while sleeping They wake up gasping or choking through the night They complain of sleepiness in the daytime or headaches in the morning People with obstructive sleep apnoea will often also suffer with high blood pressure. When you stop breathing during your sleep, your nervous system kicks in and releases stress hormones which may raise blood pressure over time.
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Greater healthcare demand drives 55% hike in Hong Kong employee medical premiums
Hong Kong employers are facing significantly higher costs for their employees' medical insurance, with premiums having increased by 55 per cent over the past three years due to a greater demand for healthcare services, including those related to post-Covid illnesses. The findings were announced on Friday by the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). They form part of Hong Kong's first 'Staff Medical Insurance Index', a collaborative effort with MPF consultant GUM. The Index, which covers 19 years of market data from 2006 to 2024, aims to provide a comprehensive illustration of the actual use, expense, and premium trends of group medical insurance in Hong Kong. It comprises the Utilisation Index, the Expense Index, and the Premium Index. This year's analysis showed that the Composite Premium Index under the insurance index had cumulatively surged by 55 per cent, rising from 182 in 2021 to 282 in 2024. Professor Peter Yuen Pok-man, Dean of PolyU CPCE and a health economics expert, said that 'the rise in medical premiums [was] mainly driven by high utilisation rates'. 'Insurers set future premium rates based on past claim experiences,' said Yuen. 'Group medical insurance is facing a dilemma where high utilisation leads to premium increases, which, in the long run, could undermine the sustainability of private healthcare and indirectly intensify the pressure on the public healthcare system.' Dr Gloria Siu, chief executive of GUM, pointed out that 'a surge in upper respiratory infections has driven up the utilisation of general outpatient services.'
