Need to Know
05 : 11 : 19

Global – Google has launched a platform to encourage designers and developers to build digital wellbeing into their products.

Digital Wellbeing Experiments showcases ideas and experimental tools that promote better balance with technology. The platform builds on Google’s efforts to make digital wellbeing part of its products, such as Wind Down on Android or Take a Break reminders on YouTube. As well as featuring experiments created by Google’s own Creative Lab, Digital Wellbeing Experiments offers guides for others to create and submit their own concepts.

At launch, Google has created five experimental apps, each focused on a different behaviour. Unlock Clock, for example, displays the number of times you unlock your phone in a day. We Flip helps families and friends disconnect together by simultaneously setting their phones to Do Not Disturb mode, while Desert Island helps users find focus by limiting access to apps.

To learn more about how consumers are turning to Disengaging Devices to reduce their technology usage, read our Resilience Culture macrotrend.

UK – Night shift workers across the country now have access to the latest research on sleep health.

Launched by The Liminal Space, the Night Club initiative is designed to improve the wellbeing of the UK’s rapidly growing night shift economy. To do this, it has built a pop-up installation that only opens at night, travelling across the UK to bring cutting-edge research to hard-to-reach communities.

As part of the installation, researchers from Oxford University’s Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute will develop the workers’ understanding of the link between sleep and mental health. They will also advise on diet, nutrition and exercise. To reach this often-forgotten workforce, Night Club has partnered with commercial brands such as Co-op, John Lewis and Thames Water to train their night shift workers.

The workplace of the future will prioritise not just the mental and physical health of its employees, but also increasingly their sleep health too.

As today’s workforce face funding an increasing proportion of their own retirement, consumers are starting to plan and save earlier. According to the 2019 Wells Fargo Retirement study, there are stark differences between current retirees and younger generations.

‘For those still in the workforce, saving for a viable retirement lies almost entirely in their own hands, which requires a vastly different strategy and approach,’ says Fredrik Axsater, head of the Institutional Client Group for Wells Fargo Asset Management.

On average, Millennials are starting to save much earlier than Baby Boomers, but many hold mixed views about whether their savings are adequate. Just 55% of Millennials say they are saving enough for retirement and 31% cite ‘an unmanageable amount of debt’ as a barrier.

In our Money Market: Millennials, we consider how Millennials are anxious to ensure their future financial stability.