Institute for Employment Research » IER News & blogs

Launch of the UK Standard Skills Classification

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 08:30:00 GMT

The UK Standard Skills Classification (SSC) offers the most detailed, data-driven picture yet of the UK labour market. It is an innovative new tool that will make it much easier to match people to job opportunities and target skills investment where it matters most.

Created by the IER and the University of Sheffield, in partnership with Omnifolio on behalf of Skills England, the SSC is a standardised set of categories that identify the skills, knowledge and tasks required across UK occupations. The SSC is available through the UK Skills Explorer Digital tool.

Dr Sangwoo Lee challenges ‘Graduate Premium’ narrative at AERA 2026 and CGHE 2026

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:00:00 GMT

IER’s Dr Sangwoo Lee recently shared insights at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2026 conference in Los Angeles and at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) 2026 conference in Oxford, challenging traditional views on the value of a university degree.

His research, "Beyond Earnings: The Multidimensional Job Quality Premiums for University Graduates in Europe," explores whether higher education truly delivers better working conditions across non-monetary dimensions.

SkillsPULSE International Workshop on Employers’ Skills Needs

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:00:00 GMT

We are pleased to invite you to the upcoming International Workshop, a dedicated online event bringing together employers, policymakers, and labour market experts from across Europe to explore one of today’s most pressing challenges: the growing skills gap, taking place on 29 April 2026.

Organised by SkillsPULSE , a Horizon Europe project aimed at identifying, predicting, and mapping current and emerging skills shortages and gaps across Europe, this workshop will present the final results of the Employer Survey conducted in Poland, Italy, Greece, Finland, United Kingdom, Ireland and Estonia.

Please REGISTER HERE

VET2050 In-person Vision Workshops in May

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:30:00 GMT

VET2050 is entering a new phase this spring with a series of in-person Vision Workshops beginning in May 2026, bringing together stakeholders to explore what a high quality vocational education and training system in England should look like by 2050. Alongside the workshops, the project invites wider engagement through an online feedback form as part of its commitment to long-term, collaborative thinking beyond short-term reform cycles.

Find out more in the VET2050 Project's April Newsletter.

Hilda Ragnarsdóttir appointed as board member for Employability and Skills at the Centre for New Midlands

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Hilda Ragnarsdóttir at IER has joined the Board for Employability and Skills at the Centre for New Midlands, a not-for-profit think tank focused on creating and sharing new ideas to strengthen the West Midlands.

She will be undertaking research and contributing to the conversation on how to reduce economic inactivity, improve employability and address the skill gap in the region.

Conference presentation in Jamaica

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

IER's Dr Jamelia Harris presented early findings from the project "Colonial legacies and the labour market in the English-speaking Caribbean" at the West Indies Economic Conference (WECON) 2026. The conference was held in Kingston, Jamaica and brought together economists working on issues in the Caribbean region.

Dr Sangwoo Lee's Expert Comment on ONS Labour Market Statistics (Nov 2025 - January 2026)

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:45:00 GMT

Dr Sangwoo Lee, Assistant Professor, Institute for Employment Research said "Today's release confirms a labour market in structural transition. Unemployment has risen to 5.2%, its highest since late 2020, even as economic inactivity continued declining to 20.7%. Rather than signalling genuine recovery, this pattern suggests a return to work that an increasingly slack labour market is struggling to absorb, with rising unemployment reflecting insufficient demand to accommodate those re-entering the workforce."

Forecasting the future of work: the ISABEL framework

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

The Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) is a key partner in ISABEL, a pioneering Horizon Europe project dedicated to managing labour market shifts triggered by the green and digital transitions. Running from November 2024 to November 2027, the project utilises AI-powered analytics to minimise the costs and maximise the benefits of job creation and destruction. Led by Dr Sangwoo Lee, the IER team, including Dr Gianni Anelli-Lopez, Prof Derek Bosworth, Luke Bosworth, and Rosie Day, is developing robust forecasting methodologies.

Network-based recruitment and the labour market effects

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT

A new research paper by IER's Dr. Jamelia Harris has been published in Work Employment and Society. The article analyses how employers and university-educated jobseekers behave when networks are overly used, and connections supersede merit in recruitment. It advances the debate by exploring the effects of networks on how the labour market for the university-educated functions, and how the normalisation of network-based recruitment affects this segment of the labour market.

Celebrating International Women’s Day: Advancing Gender Equality in Public Procurement

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 06:30:00 GMT

On this International Women’s Day (IWD), we’re proud to highlight Katharina Sarter's work on socially responsible public procurement. Accounting for about one third of GDP, public procurement has increasingly become a lever for promoting equality. Katharina’s work has examined public policies and their implementation in different countries and sheds light on approaches, challenges and opportunities to lever public procurement to promote equality, fair working conditions, and more inclusive decision‑making.