HRreview 20 Years
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Subscribe for weekday HR news, opinion and advice.
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Optin_date
This field is hidden when viewing the form

Touch typing is an essential skill in the workplace, expert says

-

An employment expert has suggested touch typing is a vital skill for those who work in offices – particularly as a secretary or a personal assistant.

Keith Wymer of Pitman Training said those who are out of work who cannot type at a reasonable speed will not even be looked at by a recruitment agency.

He explained secretaries or personal assistants should be typing at 70 words per minute (wpm) while administrators should be able to bash out around 45 wpm and IT professionals at least this figure also.

Mr Wymer also suggested it is important for workers coming from overseas to be trained on how to type with a Qwerty keyboard, which they may not be used to.

HRreview Logo

Get our essential weekday HR news and updates.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Keep up with the latest in HR...
This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is hidden when viewing the form
Optin_date
This field is hidden when viewing the form

 

Meanwhile, a recent report published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills has suggested Britain must work harder to be in the top eight performing nations for skills in the world by 2020,

The report forecast that if things do not improve, by 2020 the UK is likely to rank 23rd on low-level skills, 21st on intermediate skills and tenth on high-level skills.

Latest news

Felicia Williams: Why ‘shadow work’ is quietly breaking your people strategy

Employees are losing seven hours a week to tasks that fall outside their core job description. For HR leaders, that’s the kind of stat that keeps you up at night.

Redundancies rise as 327,000 job losses forecast for 2026

UK job losses are set to rise again as redundancy warnings hit post-pandemic highs, with employers cutting roles amid rising costs and economic pressure.

Rise of ‘sickfluencers’ and AI advice sparks concern over attitudes to work

Online influencers and AI tools are shaping how people approach illness and employment, heaping pressure on employers.

‘Silent killer’ dust linked to 500 construction deaths a year as 600,000 workers face exposure

Hundreds of UK construction workers die each year from silica dust exposure as a new campaign calls for stronger workplace protections.
- Advertisement -

Leaders ‘overestimate’ how much workers use AI

Firms may be misreading workforce readiness for artificial intelligence, as frontline staff report far lower day-to-day adoption than executives expect.

Cost-of-living pressures ‘keep unhappy workers in their jobs’

Many say economic pressures are forcing them to remain in jobs they would otherwise leave, as pay and financial stability dominate career decisions.

Must read

Working with Graduates to Create the Winning Emotional Connection

What is the effect of the shift in values of new graduates entering employment? And what, asks Pauline McDonald, Head of Careers, Swansea University, is the strategic impact of this shift within organisations and for HR professionals?

Paul Russell: So you want to be…influential?

When dealing with the complexities of myriad personalities from ground to board level, attempting to implement strategy and policies, championing initiatives, managing conflict and motivating employees, influence is surely the crème de la crème of skills; if people are HR’s resource then influence is the resource of HR’s. But achieving influence is a delicate tightrope walk of precision and accuracy, lean too much one way and you veer to coercion and manipulation, veer to the opposite side and weakness and inefficiency await.
- Advertisement -

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you