The quality of paid work has become an essential component of individuals’ well-being in modern-day capitalism, and there has been a surge in policy discourse surrounding the objective of ‘more and better jobs’ (as articulated by the OECD) or ‘decent work’ (as outlined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals) over the past two decades.

In November, Director of IER, Chris Warhurst presented at a string of events on:

• ‘Mapping the Good Work policy terrain’ to the Department of Business & Trade;
• ‘Good Work and Productivity’ to a Productivity Institute event held at Warwick Business School as part of the Productivity Week; and
• ‘Industry 5.0’ at the Digital Manufacturing Conference held in Cambridge.

At the end of October Dr Emily Erickson and Prof. Chris Warhurst of IER presented a report on the business case for more good jobs to the Board of the Northern Ireland Labour Relations Agency. The focus was on the links between good jobs on the one hand and, on the other hand, innovation, productivity and employee wellbeing within firms. Based on the findings, the report makes several recommendations for enhancing policy in Northern Ireland on good jobs.

At the end of September, Professor Chris Warhurst was invited to speak at an Acas practitioner event on 'The Changing Face of Employment Relations'. His talk focused on ‘Good Work and its benefits for business’. Drawing on research undertaken with colleagues in IER, he outlined findings on the links between Good Work, innovation, productivity and employee wellbeing.

IER hosted a meeting at the RSA in London in mid-March on its initiative to establish a new National Centre for Creating Healthy Jobs.

The aim of the centre is to minimise the number of jobs that lead to ill-health and increase the number that support good health.