IER Newsletter - Current Issue

IER Newsletter - January 2026

IER is hiring a new Research Fellow

The Institute for Employment Research (IER) is seeking to appoint an outstanding Research Fellow to contribute to developing and enhancing its reputation as an internationally leading, multi-disciplinary research-only institute. Read MoreLink opens in a new window It is an opportunity for a researcher who wants to make a difference to be involved in policy-relevant research.

Research Fellows have the opportunity to gain experience in designing and conducting research projects and in disseminating findings. IER’s research tends to be team-based but all researchers are encouraged to develop their own research interests.

The deadline for applying is Monday 2nd February 2026 at 11:55pm (UK Time)

Read more about the role hereLink opens in a new window.

Project spotlight: Skills2Capabilities (S2C) comes to a close

The Skills2Capabilities project has formally concluded, marking the end of a three-year Horizon Europe collaboration that explored how skills systems can better support labour-market transitions across Europe. The project, coordinated by 3s (Austria), brought together seven interlinked work packages to tackle some of the most pressing questions facing Europe’s labour markets: how to support workers to update their skills, navigate career transitions and stay resilient throughout life – and how to give employers access to a workforce ready for the demands of green and digital transitions. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

The Warwick IER team, led by Prof Terence Hogarth, has played a pivotal role in examining how Europe can transition from simply generating "better intelligence" to ensuring "better utilisation" of skills in the workplace. IER led a work package which examined how the funding of vocational education and training shapes participation, employer behaviour and system responsiveness. Drawing on a comparative analysis of Austria, Norway and England, the research examined how different funding regimes reflect wider institutional settlements within skill systems. A comparative report shows that coordinated market economies, such as Austria and Norway benefit from relatively stable long-term funding arrangements, underpinned by social partnerships. England’s morel liberal market economy, in contract, exhibited more frequent reform and policy churn with repeated attempts to recalibrate incentives to make skill provision ‘demand-led’. This is accompanied by a series of blogs and infographics (see ‘other publications’ below). In addition to the analytic work, the workplace produced a Ready-Reckoner App to help employers estimate the net costs of offering apprenticeship training. Read more about IER’s role in the project.

Launch of the UK Standard Skills Classification

For the past two years research staff at the IER and the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with Omnifolio, have been working to create the first Standard Classification of Skills (SSC) for the UK, on behalf of Skills England. The prototype version of this classification was released on November 27, 2025, accompanied by a Skills Explorer tool, allowing users to browse the classification and explore links to occupations and qualifications, and an interim report, detailing the methodology and some examples of use cases. In addition, the Skills England blog provides an overview of the tool and its beneficiaries. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

The SSC prototype is now moving towards the release of version 1.0 of the classification in spring 2026, incorporating comments from users. Initial responses to the release of the prototype have been favourable. For further information, visit the IER news webpage or contact Peter.Elias@warwick.ac.uk.

Bachelor, N., Cardenas Rubio, J., Day, R., Dickerson, A. and Elias, P. (2025). UK Standard Skills Classification: interim development report.

New research highlights how better employment support could help people over 50 stay in or return to work

As populations age, governments are encouraging people to work for longer. But many older workers—especially those with health conditions, caring responsibilities or insecure work histories—struggle to stay in employment or find a way back after job loss. A new report from the Warwick Institute for Employment Research — The role of active labour market programmes in supporting the over 50s: UK and international evidence — reviews UK and international evidence on active labour market programmes designed to support people aged 50 and over. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

It finds that generic, one-size-fits-all employment schemes often fail older workers, particularly those facing disadvantage. The report was funded by the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement and provides practical lessons for improving UK employment policy as working lives lengthen.

Read about the main points of the report in a piece written by Andrew Phillips, Standard Life Centre for Future of Retirement, titled “How do other countries support longer working lives?”.

Exporting status differences? The stratification of British transnational higher education

A new article by IER’s Dr Sangwoo Lee and Dr Eva Hartmann (University of Cambridge) examines how institutional hierarchies within UK higher education are reproduced through transnational education (TNE). Using panel data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency covering 178 UK universities between 2014/15 and 2023/24, the study shows that institutional status is a significant predictor of how universities engage in TNE. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

Elite universities are less likely to participate in large-scale collaborative or franchised provision, while post-92 universities dominate this fastest-growing area of TNE activity. The findings suggest that TNE exports not only British degrees, but also the status distinctions embedded within the UK higher education system. The paper contributes to emerging critical perspectives on the internationalisation of higher education and highlights the need to consider how power, reputation and hierarchy shape the global circulation of UK qualifications.

Read more in the author’s commentary in the University World News.

Hartmann, E., & Lee, S. (2026). Exporting status differences? The stratification of British transnational higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education.

Cedfop's latest Skills Forecast

Cedefop, the European Agency responsible for Vocational Education and Training, have released the latest update to their Skills Forecast data, providing labour market projections at a pan-European level from 2022 to 2035. The project was led by Cambridge Econometrics with a consortium of European research organisations, including the IER, and individual country experts from across Europe. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

The forecast takes account of global economic developments up to Autumn 2023, including the pandemic and responses to it, and provides policymakers with an overall picture of labour market trends and skills development in the EU. It estimates the size of the future labour force and future employment trends by sector and occupation for the EU and the 27 Member States.

Find out more about individual country reports, the technical report and Cedefop’s Skills Forecast online tool.

Sustainable work and musculoskeletal health

The IER's Prof Chris WarhurstLink opens in a new window, Prof Gill DixLink opens in a new window, Prof Phil TaylorLink opens in a new window, Dr Eli DuttonLink opens in a new window, Hilda RagnarsdottirLink opens in a new window and Dr Laura BoothmanLink opens in a new window were pleased to co-host a sandpit with Orthopaedic Research UK on 21 January. Prof Martin Underwood and Dr Fatema Dhaif from WMS also joined the event, alongside sector representatives and Government leads on health and work. Read MoreLink opens in a new window

The event's focus was on 'Designing sustainable work to support and prevent musculoskeletal conditions across the working life course'. A key theme was the sustainability of jobs and careers. The group discussed opportunities both to prevent poor musculoskeletal health and accommodate the needs of those with health conditions to enable them to thrive in the workplace.

Image credit: Orthopaedic Research UK People

New projects

Integrating Diversity in Social Dialogue

Other publications

Skills2Capabilities project
Erickson, E. and Hogarth, T. (2025) Skills2Capabilities for a Union of Skills (Policy Brief)
Erickson, E. (2026) The Employer Costs of Apprenticeship Training in England, Germany, and Austria: Results from a matched employer study. fe news 5 January 2026.
Baltiņa, L., Erickson, E., & Hogarth, T. (2025). Re-thinking Europe’s Skill Needs: Reflections following the European Year of Skills. Economia & lavoro, Rivista di politica sindacale, sociologia e relazioni industriali, 129-144.

Blogs written by Hogarth, T. and Erickson, E. (2025)
Skills Funding - Evidence from England
Skills Funding - Evidence from Austria
Funding of VET - Norway
IVET Funding and Demand Led Skills Supply
Skills Funding - Comparative Evidence on Funding

Infographics by Erickson, E. and Hogarth, T. (2025)
Who runs the skills system: different approaches on the governance of skills systems
Funding young learners: how countries pay for initial VET
Lifelong learning: Who pays for adult training?
Getting employers on board: incentives that work
What works and what doesn’t: comparing results and funding approaches
Lessons from policy: what we can learn from comparing VET funding

Policy briefs from the GIG OSH project on ‘New challenges for occupational safety and health in times of the digital transformation in Europe: the role of digital labour platforms’
Larsen, T.P. et al. (2025) Regulating the European platform economy: turning tides?
Lee, S. et al. (2025) Platform Work in Europe: Job Quality and Mental Wellbeing.
Sarter, K. et al. (2025) Occupational Health and Safety in Platform Work: Risks, Responsibilities, and Challenges

Brown, A., Barnes, S.-A., Bimrose, J., Kettunen, J. and Vuorinen, R. (2026) New Perspectives on Policy Learning in Career Guidance through Collaborative Partnerships and Networks. In: Barabasch, A., Bohlinger, S. and Wolf, S. (eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Policy Transfer in Vocational Education and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan Cham.

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