Along with colleagues David Guest from King’s College London and Angie Knox from Sydney University, IER’s Chris WarhurstLink opens in a new window 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 articles and the introduction to the special issue on the journal's websiteLink opens in a new window.
Directors of Skills COVID-19 workshop
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 provided 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 Link opens in a new windowof 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.
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Working class women were much more likely than managerial, professional or intermediate women workers to be either key workers or furloughed in 2020.
Working class women were much more likely than women in managerial, professional or intermediate jobs to have hours of paid work reduced to zero and that continued through 2020.
People working in distribution, hotels and restaurants were most impacted by redundancies in 2020, with women more affected than men in that sector.
The gender pay gap remained between 31% and 35% during 2020, but the gap is wider for working class women than for women in supervisory or managerial roles.
All working women were far more likely than men to have low weekly earnings in 2020.
Working class women were almost twice as likely as managerial and professional women workers to report experiencing financial hardship.
Photo: A demonstrator at a rally in Sheffield calling for a pay rise for nurses. Photo: Tim Dennell via a CC-BY-NC 2.0 licence.
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Skills in R&D
In March, IER Director Chris WarhurstLink opens in a new window was invited to participate in an expert roundtable on Skills in R&D hosted by the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). His contribution focused on skills for innovation. The contributions complement research led by Professor Terence HogarthLink opens in a new window for BEIS on the talent pipeline for UK R&D.
The Director of IER, Chris WarhurstLink opens in a new window, was invited to give a talk to the ACAS Digital Spring Conference on 24th March on the role of good work in the future of work in the UK. The focus was on the role of good work in the post-Covid economic recovery and renewal.
Image credit: Carnegie UK Trust
