IER News & blogs
Skills in R&D
In March, IER Director Chris Warhurst was invited to participate in an expert roundtable on skill in R&D, hosted by the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). His contribution focused on skills for innovation.
It complements research led by Professor Terence Hogarth for BEIS on the talent pipeline for UK R&D.
Future of work in the UK

In March, IER Director Chris Warhurst was invited to give a talk to the ACAS East Midlands Conference on the role of good work in the future of work in the UK.
The focus was on the role of good work in post Covid economic recovery and renewal.
Good jobs and the green economy
In March, Director of IER, Chris Warhurst, was invited to give evidence to the Building Back Better Inquiry of the Liverpool City Region All Party Parliamentary Group.
He presented evidence focused on the opportunities to create good jobs within the green economy and outlined the framework of a plan to do so.
The Quality of Working Life Revisited
Along with colleagues David Guest from King’s College London and Angie Knox from Sydney University, IER’s Chris Warhurst has published a journal virtual special issue that re-evaluates classic articles on the quality of working life published in Human Relations over the past 50 years.
Read more about the introduction to the special issue here and all the articles here.
Workshop with the Directors of Skills of Mayoral Combined Authorities co-facilitated
The Institute for Employment Research with the Edge Foundation facilitated the latest in a regular series of workshops with the Directors of Skills of Mayoral Combined Authorities on 10th March.
The workshops provide an opportunity for the Directors of Skills to discuss issues which are most relevant to them and share experience and practice. This is especially important given the role that the Mayoral Combined Authorities will play in supporting their local economies to emerge from the impact of COVID-19.
The workshop also included a presentation on Good Work by Gail Irvine of the Carnegie UK Trust and Chris Warhurst, Director of IER. Both Gail and Chris were involved in the Taylor Review of modern working practices, and have both been involved in the post-review working group on developing the recommendations.