IER News & blogs

The latest UK labour market data presents a mixed picture, with the employment rate showing modest improvement despite earlier indications of weakening demand. The unemployment rate has risen to 4.4%, continuing its upward trajectory, while the UK Claimant Count increased in February 2025. These suggest a persistent challenge of insufficient job creation, resulting in growing benefit dependency.

In February IER Director, Chris Warhurst, was an invited speaker at in the Global Labour Markets Conference in Riyadh. It is a new, annual event involving the World Bank, ILO and United Nations, global trade union organisations and C-suite business leaders. Chris participated in two sessions, the first a presidential style ‘gloves off’ debate about skills and AI and the second presenting IER’s work on green jobs and a just transition.

This book chapter examines self-employment among people aged 50 and over in the liberal market economies of Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA against the backdrop of the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of long-standing efforts aimed at increasing levels of older workers’ labour force participation. It features in the new Research Handbook on Self-Employment and Public Policy, edited by Wieteke Conen and Enrico Reuter.

In its spring announcements, Director of IER, Professor Chris Warhurst, has been conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Many congratulations from all at IER on the award.

A new book on public services, co-edited by IER'S Katharina Sarter has been published by Policy Press. Understanding Public Services. A Contemporary Introduction provides an accessible and comprehensive account of the context within which public services operate, their core functions and internal workings and explores emerging and future developments and challenges.