1981 - 2021: IER Turns 40
Celebrating 40 Years of Employment Research at Warwick
What is now Warwick's Institute for Employment Research (IER) was established in 1981 under the leadership of Professor Robert Lindley.
Our remit was – and still is – to provide high quality research to help solve policy and practice problems locally and globally. We are grateful to our sponsors in government, research councils and charitable foundations for their support over the past 40 years.
From labour market forecasting to post-Covid employment: IER over the years
IER’s labour market forecasting, which formed the impetus for its establishment in 1981, continue today for the UK Government as the periodic 'Working Futures.'
Our other high impact projects include research underpinning the development of the Standard Occupational Classification system used by government statisticians in the UK and internationally and the development of a new software, CASCOT, to enable researchers worldwide to quickly classify occupations.
We also undertook research on the UK's graduate labour market, research that informed the introduction of the UK Apprenticeship Levy and the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices that calls for a standard measure of job quality.
More recently, we provided research to help the MoD transition service personnel into civil working lives, and provided research for the Department for Education to support Labour Market Information for All (LMI for All) used by governments and careers guidance practitioners. The Future of Work programme examines the impact of robots and platform work (labour provided through, on, or mediated by online platforms) on jobs in Europe's labour markets. We also host ReWAGE, a UK-wide expert group of advisors on improving work and employment in a post-Covid world.
Past, present and future: Staff reflections on IER
To mark 40 years, we've collated some stories from staff - past and present. Professor Robert Lindley reflects on the Institute's early days as it emerged against a landscape of mass unemployment and declining industry. Professor Peter Elias recalls his transition from California to Coventry and working in the IER at a time before the internet, laptops and mobile phones. IER's Senior Research Administrator Margaret Birch joined the University at its inception, with most of her working life spent at the Institute. In the 1980s, Professor Kate Purcell joined, before leaving, and then returning to work at IER once more. Dr Sudipa Sarkar joined IER in 2017, whilst Dr Jeisson Cardenas-Rubio joined a few years later in early 2020.
