Skills and Employment - Warwick Social Science Business Forum

Professor Chris Warhurst – Director Institute of Employment Research, University of Warwick

Professor Emma Smith – Director Centre for Education Studies, University of Warwick

Dr Patrick White – Sociology, University of Leicester

Please could all attendees register by emailing Tony.Carroll@warwick.ac.uk 

Chris Warhurst - What does good work mean?

Following the Taylor Review into Modern Employment Practices, the Government has accepted the case for all work to be Good Work.

But what does this mean?

How can employers improve the quality of work in the UK economy and what support does Government need to give?

What is the right balance between the needs of employers and employees?

How can job quality be measured and why does it matter?

Emma Smith and Patrick White - Shortage? What Shortage?

STEM graduates, labour market opportunities, and recruitment practices.

Shortages of highly-skilled workers in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sector have been widely reported in the US and Western Europe for almost a century. Our research examined the best available UK data on the occupational destinations and career trajectories of both graduates and non-graduates. It found no evidence of a shortage of STEM graduates, nor any of the common indicators associated with labour shortages. Only a minority of STEM graduates ever work in the STEM sector, perhaps suggesting that either the work is unattractive or employers only recruit from certain groups. If STEM employers are concerned about recruiting highly-skilled workers, they may need to rethink what they offer to graduate recruits in terms of 'quality of work', and to also reconsider the extent to which higher education can be expected provide ‘ready-made’ employees that suit their specific needs.