IER News & blogs

On 14 September, Dr Sangwoo Lee presented at an expert roundtable hosted by the British Academy.  Sharing findings from his recent research on multidimensional graduate job quality premiums across the UK and Europe, he argued that conventional evaluative metrics, which rely heavily on gross earnings and standard employment status, fail to capture the realities of modern graduate employment.

IER was also represented at the roundtable by Professor Peter Elias and Gabriel Atfield, contributing to discussions on skills, regional inequality, and the future data infrastructure needed to assess fair and sustainable work across the UK.

Non-standard working arrangements are coming under pressure: Payrolled employees fell by 39,000 in May-July 2026 and workforce jobs a by 48,000, the latter driven by a 43,000 decline in self-employed jobs. This suggests even non-standard arrangements that previously absorbed some labour market weakness are now under pressure