The IER is seeking to appoint an outstanding Research Fellow with strong quantitative research skills. Full details are available at the University of Warwick websiteLink opens in a new window. Closing date is 12 August 2022. We look forward to welcoming the successful applicant to join our highly skilled and experienced staff.
ReWAGE news
ReWAGELink opens in a new window co-chair Professor Irena Grugulis attended the Northern Powerhouse Education, Employment and Skills Summit 2022 to speak at a panel session. The event brought together political and business leaders across the North to discuss the need for investment in the skills and good jobs needed to increase prosperity and social mobility.
ReWAGE held a live online briefing on 6 changes in public policy that would help the low-paid - hosted by Observer columnist and President of the Academy of Social Sciences, Will HuttonLink opens in a new window - which was open to the public. We had good attendance and an engaging discussion. A recording of the sessionLink opens in a new window is now available.
ReWAGE supported Carers Week by highlighting ReWAGE’s consultation response advocating the right to work flexibly from day one of employment. We also supported World Environment Day and promoted ReWAGE co-chair Professor Chris Warhurst’s involvement with a project on green jobs in Scotland.
We have continued to celebrate the incredible wealth of expertise and knowledge that ReWAGE has to draw on by publishing more profiles of our Expert Group including Catherine BarnardLink opens in a new window and Jonathan PortesLink opens in a new window. We also promoted Christina’s Beatty’s presentation about hidden unemployment in 2022 and Kim Hoque’s interviews on BBC Radio Cumbria and BBC Radio Scotland.
Midlands Good Work Charter launched
On 29 June Acas and its collaborative partners launched the Midlands Good Work Charter, an initiative to help improve organisations' productivity, raise staff retention levels, lower absence rates and improve well-being among may other benefits.
Hosted by Keele Business School, speakers were drawn from the Department for Work and Pensions, Martin Traynor OBE, HS2, Greater Manchester Good Employer Charter, TUC Midlands, local authorities in the Midlands and the Warwick University's Institute for Employment Research (IER). More information about the Charter can be found on the IER websiteLink opens in a new window.
Website launch: "Buying Social Justice through Procurement"
The Buying Social Justice through Procurement project has launched its websiteLink opens in a new window. The project, which involves IER's Dr Katharina SarterLink opens in a new window as co-investigator, explores the use of social procurement by public bodies to promote equality in the UK construction workforce.
Methodologically, the project combines expert interviews, case studies, and a survey, which will soon be launched. The website provides an overview of the project objectives, methods and intended outputs. If you are interested in finding out more, do pay the website a visit where you can sign up to the mailing list to be kept informed on progress.
Inclusive Futures for Europe BEYOND 4.0
Dr Sally WrightLink opens in a new window, IER Senior Research Fellow, recently attended a work package meeting in San Sebastian for the Horizon Europe BEYOND 4.0Link opens in a new window project on the impact of new technologies of the jobs, business models and welfare. Led by Dr Michael Kohlgrüber from Technische Universität Dortmund, Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund (TUDO) in Germany, the work package aims to progress the skills debate by providing new insights for better understanding of the skills needed for future workplaces. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Egoitz Pomares from Sinnergiak Social Innovation at the University of the Basque Country. Following on from the meeting, a working paper will be published on the project website later in the year.
IER welcomes Professor Sakshaug
IER is delighted to introduce Professor Joseph SakshaugLink opens in a new window who joined us last month. He is a quantitative methodologist and data scientist with expertise in survey methodology, data integration, business statistics, missing data, and measurement error. His core research focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating methods of collecting and analyzing data for the social and economic sciences, including survey data, administrative data, objective health data, and digital behavioural data collected from smartphones, web surveys, and sensors. He has taught widely and has served on methodological advisory boards of several prominent social surveys in the UK, Germany, and USA. Before joining IER, Joseph held professorships at the University of Manchester and the University of Mannheim.
Understanding Public Services explores key topics, from the political, legal and economic context within which public services operate via strategy, management and leadership to current and emerging issues such as equality, sustainability, and climate change. It will be published in February 2023 by Policy Press.
Impact of Digitalisation
Dr Sally WrightLink opens in a new window, Senior Research Fellow at IER, visited the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Seville for a week to work on analysing preliminary results from a survey on the impact of digitalisation on work. During her stay in the week 13th-17th June, she worked together with Dr Enrique Fernandez-Macias and Dr Cesira Urzi Brancati on analysing results from the third wave of the JRC's Collaborative Economy (COLLEEM)Link opens in a new window survey. The JRC has a programme of work exploring the impact of digital labour platforms on employment.
