this is worklife from bbc news, with victoria fritz and david eades. brexit deadline: britain awaits the eu's decision on delaying its departure from the european union. live from london, that's our top story on friday the 25th of october. how safe are you at work — or even at home? we'll meet the woman whose work life is dedicated to making sure we don't fall prey to needless accidents.

and we want to know, as sales of luxury loungewear goes through the roof, is "staying in" officially the new going out? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcworklife. and some news from amazon. their big one—day delivery pushes costing them huge amounts of money, $800 million. we will have more on that. thank you for being with us here on worklife. we will be focusing, not least among other stories, on brexit, and one or two other things. how safe are you at work? we will find out with a special inside view on building design.

we start with the countdown to brexit. 0r christmas, or both. as things stand, the uk is due to leave the eu in less than a week. ambassadors from the rest of the eu will meet in brussels today to discuss whether to grant the uk a brexit extension. in the meantime, the prime minister boris johnson's government wants a general election. nick eardley is in westminsterfor us it seems the only thing that is clearer behind you is the weather. that is a fair assessment because this place still can't agree on what should happen next. borisjohnson‘s newest plan is to call an election for the 12th of december, allow an extra week or so to try and get his brexit legislation through before that. the problem is, nobody seems

to bejumping that. the problem is, nobody seems to be jumping out that. the problem is, nobody seems to bejumping out that that. the problem is, nobody seems to be jumping out that yet and he needs two thirds of mps to back him if that election is going to happen. labour are hedging their bets this morning, saying they want an ideal brexit ruled out before they sign up for anything. other opposition parties frankly don't trust the prime minister, so they are relu cta nt to prime minister, so they are reluctant to sign up to that plan on monday either. so at the moment, it doesn't seem like that 12th of december general election is necessarily going to happen. nick, we will leave it there for the moment. just when you thought we had some clarity, more questions emerge. ann francke, ceo of chartered management institute, is with us now. would you welcome a general election at this point or is it all a distraction? most business leaders do not want an election before brexit is settled, because just last

week, we pass the deal. so we would like to see that concluded first. but is there a sense of confidence 110w but is there a sense of confidence now that that 0ctober but is there a sense of confidence now that that october the 31st no deal deadline which was dreaded by many businesses is pretty much dead in the water, so perhaps the idea of an election is not as remote as it might have been? it may be dead in the water, but we don't know because there is so much up in the air. today, we don't know if the eu will grantan today, we don't know if the eu will grant an extension and if so, how long. will labour backed calls for an election? it is all at a standstill and for businesses, this is beyond uncertainty, it is now entering the realm of the ridiculous. how do they plan? this is it, the realm of the ridiculous and times of uncertainty. how do businesses respond in this way? there are plenty of things they cannot control. none of us can

control westminster, so what can they do regardless of whether we are talking about thursday orjanuary or december? sorry, we can't control the lights either. it is a surreal world. it is an excellent point, and what businesses need to do is take control of things that are within their gift. for example, you can review your supply chain, make sure you know where things come from, look at your employee base and make sure you can secure your look at your employee base and make sure you can secure your workers irrespective of where they come from. these are decisions you can take. you can train your staff. my advice to businesses is to focus on the things you can control. that is understandable. if there is no no deal, ultimately, i imagine many businesses will be relieved, but they must be furious that the whole

prospect was put up and they had to work out their contingencies, and for what? you're right. but if you have understood your supply chain, thatis have understood your supply chain, that is a good thing. perhaps you have unearthed new sources of supply that you were not aware of before. there is always a silver lining, and as ridiculous as times are, i would encourage businesses to look at that. we have had a black, orange and blue lining in the last two minutes. thank you very much. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news... advertising giant wpp has returned to sales growth in its latest earnings, although chief executive mark read warned investors to expect "twists and turns along the way" as he continues his turnaround of the company. sales were up 5% on last year at $5 billion for the three months to the end of september. china has felt the wrath of us vice—president mike pence on the eve of fresh trade talks between the two countries. mr pence said beijing had violated

the rights of the people of hong kong and had tried to export censorship. but he did try to sweeten the pill — he said america wants to avoid twitter shares have slumped by more than 20%. that's as quarterly profits came in at less than a quarter of what analysts had predicted. the social media company said product bugs and unusually low the final report into the deadly lion air crash that killed 189 people last october is due out shortly in indonesia. families briefed on wednesday by indonesian investigators were told mechanical and design issues with the aircraft — a boeing 737 max jet — were amongst the factors involved. let's go to our asia business hub where karishma vaswani is following the story... desperately sad for the families,

who obviously want answers. will a nswe rs who obviously want answers. will answers be forthcoming for them? they will, but not for some time yet, as we understand. the lion air press briefing was meant to start half an hour ago injakarta. we have been told that that has now been delayed and will not start for another 30 minutes. but already, we are hearing reports of what will be in that final assessment of the deadly crash in october 2018 that killed everybody on board. it paints a disturbing picture of pilots who appear to have been untrained in some vital equipment on board the boeing 737 max jet. indonesian investigators say that the design and certification of the flight control software didn't adequately consider the likelihood that pilots have lost control of the aircraft. that is coming out of some of the

comments that investigators made in the briefing on wednesday to families of the victims on board. indonesian investigators have also suggested that perhaps there wasn't enough information about the flight control software in manuals on board the plane, and they have highlighted deficiencies in the airline's flight crew communication issues as well. soa crew communication issues as well. so a lot for families to unpick when the final report is released. karishma vaswani in singapore. let's checkin karishma vaswani in singapore. let's check in with the markets quickly. it has been a mixed picture in asia. there has been some dampened sentiment and optimism coming out from copper earnings, with the likes of amazon is not doing as well as people thought, their first fall in profits for two years. the ftse opened a little bit flatter. it had a stronger session yesterday, rising off the likes of astrazeneca. back

to david. it's not looking like a very merry christmas for amazon. it says it's going to make less money than expected over the festive season. it's facing intense competition and greater costs as it tries to speed up delivery times. vivienne nunis has more from new york. amazon's push to offer prime subscribers next day delivery has meant increased shipping costs. the company spent nearly $10 billion on postage over the past three months. and extra spending means lower profits. in fact, compared to last year, amazon's quarterly profits have dropped by 25%, and that has caused shares to fall in aftermarket trading. but putting aside higher shipping costs, amazon's revenue is increasing and was up by nearly a fifth to $70 billion last quarter. the company's biggest earner remains the cloud computing business, storing data online.

it delivered $9 billion in sales, although it grew at a slower rate than the previous quarter. also of note, amazon has been a recent hiring spree. it now employs three quarters of a million people. big numbers for a very big company, valued at $880 billion. time now for our daily look at some of the newspaper and website stories which have caught our eye. joining me is savile row master tailor andrew ramroop. we start with the pyjama party. it is the best story of the day. sales of luxury lounge are going through the roof to prove that staying in is officially the new going out. it's a story which the evening standard has done a big piece on. i suppose there is something in that. more more people are staying at home and working from home. yes, flexible working from home. yes, flexible working hours. some of our staff

working hours. some of our staff work from home. i'm not sure whether they wear their pyjamas while they are creating marvellous savile row suits, but certainly, working from home is the new thing, with flexible working hours, as well as travelling into the city of london being challenging at times. it is an interesting idea. we will talk about the nature of the economy and where things are going. luxury is the last essential, isn't it? people don't wa nt to essential, isn't it? people don't want to give up on little luxuries, and this is a good example. want to give up on little luxuries, and this is a good examplem want to give up on little luxuries, and this is a good example. it is, because pyjamas and loungewear is much more design. the fabrics are softer and much more comfortable. when you put on your pyjamas, you don't want to change into anything else and you want to stay at home especially if you look outside and the weather is not great, as it is currently. how casual do you go?

when you are out of that lovely suit, would you wear loungewear or is that a complete know for someone like yourself? i would absolutely wear loungewear. currently, iweara suit every day. i project the image that i sell. but when i get home, i ama that i sell. but when i get home, i am a lot more relaxed. i get into track pants and a t—shirt. am a lot more relaxed. i get into track pants and a t-shirt. do you design some of that stuff yourself? yes, iam design some of that stuff yourself? yes, i am a creative designer, so i do the cutting and fitting. and we have staff as well. would you ever consider a diffusion line in loungewear, because it is popular and the sort of people who are spending big money on suits might be interested in something for when they get home. you're right. we have a customer base. we don't do a ready to wear collection for stores, so we give the customer what they want. 0bviously, give the customer what they want. obviously, it is catching on. i will

have to think about it. david is a lwa ys have to think about it. david is always suited and booted and looking fabulous. i can't imagine you in loungewear. let's talk about another story that caught your eye. this is the story about the ame representation in the workforce. —— bame representation. 1% of the police force in the uk are women of colour. that is clearly not representative. it is very low. in any field of endeavour, any business, any company, any organisation, you have got to make your workplace and your work attractive to be at. so having a small percentage of bame represented in the police service, it is tiny.

you have to make the job attractive to people so they can see there is a meaningful future to people so they can see there is a meaningfulfuture in to people so they can see there is a meaningful future in that role. how do you do that? people have an understanding of what a job or a career is and what it will be like, so career is and what it will be like, so right at the start of the recruitment process, people already have preconceptions. yes. it is promoting the role in a more positive frame, in that there are opportunities to climb the ladder within whatever job it opportunities to climb the ladder within whateverjob it might be, in this case in the police service. if you make the job attractive and show that there are opportunities to get ahead within that role, there is an opportunity to make it more attractive for bame. we will see how well they pick up on that. lovely to have you with us. still to come, fighting fire with fire. we'll meet the woman deteremined to boost safety in our homes and offices. you're with

worklife from bbc news. over a third of britain's workers do not feel confident about theirjob security in current roles, or even future employment opportunities. a new report has found that "jobs confidence" has plunged to its lowest level since 2014. derekjenkins is managing director of thejobs platform, monster. should we be surprised that over a third of workers fear confident and thatis third of workers fear confident and that is likely rise? i don't think we should be surprised at all. the current economic climate in the uk is relatively anaemic. we are starting to see the rise in unemployment and less vacancies in the marketplace, combined with the

dreaded word, brexit, which is really affecting confidence across the workforce. brexit has been around for a while, let's be honest. it is over three years since the referendum. isn't it a surprise that these figures haven't been falling sooner? they haven't been great for a long time, to be fair. businesses just want clarity on the future. we are ata just want clarity on the future. we are at a stage now where we are coming to the end of 2019 and you start thinking, what are the opportunities for growth in 2020 and beyond? it obviously affects opportunities for workers across the uk, and there is no clarity. that is what is having the biggest effect at present. the message we get on a more international stage as well is, isa more international stage as well is, is a recession coming and when? it doesn't look promising in the years ahead. our forecast over the next

few quarters will be that we will see a decline that two have we lost the line? looks like it will get worse before it gets better. that was derekjenkins, the managing director of munster, the jobs platform. let's talk about this story —— he was the director of munster. nicky morgan has announced plans to provide high ag coverage to 90% of the uk by 2025. she wants telecoms operators to stump up millions of to make that happen, so the likes of ee are investing 530 million in a rural network. you're watching worklife. a reminder of our top story: britain is awaiting the eu's decision on a possible extension to the october the 31st deadline for brexit.

meanwhile, prime minister boris johnson is urging an early general election in december. clear as mud, as ever. now, according to our next guest, we spend 90% of our lives in buildings, so it follows that our health and wellbeing are significantly influenced by the built environment. but how safe is your workplace and the air you breathe in it? bre group, or the building research establishment, is one of the world's leading research groups in this field. gillian charlesworth, chief executive of bre group, is with us now. ina sense, in a sense, it's a fascinating time for you and for us to be having this discussion. it's a world where we talk about sustainability all the

time. it's a world of climate change anxiety, so presumably it has to be anxiety, so presumably it has to be a world of change in the way we build our buildings? absolutely. it isa build our buildings? absolutely. it is a little known fact that a0% of our carbon emissions come from buildings. is that concrete, mostly? no, energy leaking out of buildings. that is not even to talk about the embedded carbon in the materials. so we have to address the question of existing building stock as well as making sure everything we are building for the future is more sustainable. how do we do that? there is a lot of thinking going into different methods of manufacturing buildings. the word manufacturing buildings. the word manufacturing is important here because we have talked about traditional construction methods for many years. now we are talking about off—site and modular building to make sure we apply excellent manufacturing techniques to how we

build our buildings. and part of thatis build our buildings. and part of that is the modern equivalent of the old prefab? in scandinavia, they are very big on that. they have well built homes and they are very sustainable in terms of heating. can you see that coming at a bigger level here? yes. we are involved in a major project at the moment to develop ideas for doing exactly that. so for new buildings, there area that. so for new buildings, there are a lot of good ideas on the way. but the bigger challenges our existing building stock. that is where we need to see more government intervention. funding is going to be needed to dig into the challenge of the existing building stock that we have got. that is going to continue to be the vast majority of our buildings. david said 9096 of our lives are spent in buildings. i dread to think what percentage of our lives are spent in this basement! with no windows. i wonder

if you could explain to people around the world what impact buildings and the built environment has on your mental and emotional well—being and your physical well—being and your physical well—being too. well—being and your physical well-being too. that is a really good question. let me give you another statistic. i read recently that over 20% of millennials are saying no to jobs that over 20% of millennials are saying no tojobs because that over 20% of millennials are saying no to jobs because they don't like the look of the working conditions. this is going to be a business critical issue. it is not just about our personal well—being, which of course it is vitally important. it is about productivity, well—being in the workplace and peoples expectations of how they should be working on the conditions they are expected to work in. so businesses need to be thinking, how cani businesses need to be thinking, how can i make sure my workplace is attractive to the talent that i want to recruit? we want to get a bit of insight into your bre group. so your business is to do what, to develop

more people who have the expertise to do this? yes. we have a fantastic group of scientists and engineers who work for us and they do testing and assessment of buildings to make sure they are safe and sustainable. 0ur role is to create the capacity to do more research for the future for the future buildings that we need. that is our core role, but everything we do is intrinsic to improving the built environment. and you're saying to the government, get your finger out, you're saying to the government, get yourfinger out, you you're saying to the government, get your finger out, you have you're saying to the government, get yourfinger out, you have to do more to invest in future buildings? yourfinger out, you have to do more to invest in future buildings7m yourfinger out, you have to do more to invest in future buildings? it is a no—brainer. we have a huge challenge in terms of zero carbon by 2050. the industry needs to play its pa rt 2050. the industry needs to play its part and be responsible on this, but we need the regime, regulations and requirements that will drive different behaviour. very interesting. thank you for coming

could flying taxis be coming to a city near you? well, this week, the german company behind an electric helicopter drone completed its first manned flight in singapore. the big question is, would you get in one? monica miller has this from singapore: from a dream to reality. this flight went on for a little over two minutes. it's a test run for singapore's regulators. for volocopter, it gets the company one step closer to selling their invention in cities like los angeles, dubai and singapore. it's not going to replace a car in a general way, but it's going to be your transformation mode of choice for particular routes where you have extreme time savings. it used to be something you would only see in comic books or sci—fi movies. every volocopter needs a helipad. in this case, its partner, skyports, built a prototype, the voloport, just outside singapore's central business district.

but even with the right technology in place, how tough could it be to win the public‘s trust and confidence? i'd like to try anything once, but i don't know how safe it would be. at first, i thought there's not a chance i would get in that. it didn't look safe, but i suppose it'll get better in time. volocopter plans to launch its air taxi service by 2022. it's competing with more than 100 companies already developing similar aircraft. it's all down to various regulators to decide not if, but when this new mode of transportation becomes part of everyday life. no, iam no, i am not getting no, iam not getting in no, i am not getting in one of those yet. that's it from worklife today. possibly big brexit decisions today, either in westminster or in brussels, so keep your eye out for

those. see you again next week. bye— bye. it's going to be a fine start to the day for many of us. there will be a bit of sunshine out there, but it's not going to last because we have got some heavy rain moving in, courtesy of this area of low pressure which is way out towards the atlantic, but these weather fronts are wiggling around across the uk. blood pressure to the north will bring strong winds in northern areas of scotland, but this weather system will be the dividing line to mild air across southern areas, and colder air moving into the north. a real contrast in how it will feel today. these are the temperatures this afternoon. but it's all about the rainfall today, because it's going to spreading across south—west england through wales

into the midlands and into northern england, some of that into northern ireland and southern scotland. patchier rain in the south—east of england, but strong winds across the south. sunny spells in northern parts, but gales in the far north of scotland. but it is south—west england and wales into northern england where the rain will persist through the night and into saturday morning. significant rainfall totals here, particularly over the high ground. so it's the southwest moors, the pennines and the welsh hills that will see the bulk of the rain. that could lead to localised flooding and potential for travel disruption for many of us as we go into saturday. 0vernight temperatures will be low across northern areas, but staying mild in the south. throughout the day on saturday, this band of rain doesn't move very far. but gradually, it spreads into the south—east of england. something drier and brighter further west. still some showers in the west of scotland, but quite a chilly day

for many of us on saturday, temperatures in single figures. milder conditions in the far south—east of england. you can see that colder air will eventually spread further southwards as we go into sunday, pushing the warmer and milder air away. so for sunday morning, quite a chilly start. quite a widespread frost, especially across northern parts of england and into scotland. temperatures here will be below freezing. but during sunday, it should be a much drier and sunnier day for many of us. there willjust be a few showers in the far north. for most, dry with sparkling suntan and it will be pretty chilly. so some pretty unsettled weather for the next 36 hours. stay tuned to the forecast.

you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, annita mcveigh. —— carrie gracie. the headlines. borisjohnson says mps can have more time to debate his brexit deal if they agree to an early general election — as the chancellor admits next week's brexit deadline will almost certainly be missed. parliament has asked for an extension and the eu, although it hasn't formally responded, i think everyone expects an extension from them. when that happens, we won't be able to leave on the 31st and that is exactly why we have turned around tojeremy corbyn and said, "let's get brexit done". eu ambassadors are meeting in brussels this morning, as the bloc considers whether to grant another extension to the uk's departure. post—mortem examinations are to begin on the 39 people