IER Newsletter January to February 2023

IER Newsletter - January-February 2023

Professor or Associate Professor post at IER

The IER is seeking to appoint a Professor or Associate Professor, who:
• is a recognised labour economist or social scientist with strong quantitative and/or qualitative skills
• has a track record in one or more of IER’s areas of research and importantly,
• will want to undertake research that makes a difference to policy and practice.

Full details are available at the University of Warwick website. Closing date is 24 April 2023.

ReWAGE news

Two recent ReWAGE reports have been featured in the Further Education press with both Irena Grugulis and Terence Hogarth writing opinion pieces for FE News. Irena’s article was about the challenges of reskilling and upskilling adult workers, and Terence’s piece was on tackling intermediate skills shortages.

ReWAGE’s work was also referenced in the annual report from the Women and Work All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), which this year focuses on the Cost of being a Woman at Work. ReWAGE’s Communications and Engagement Manger, Anne Fessi, attended the launch event at the House of Commons to meet Minister for Women Maria Caulfield, and the APPG co-chairs Flick Drummond MP and Jess Philips MP.

New IER project starts on digital and green skills for Industry 5.0

In January, IER’s new collaborative project ‘Bridges 5.0’ kicked off with a launch in Brussels attended by officials from the European Commission. The project seeks to identify the digital and green skills needed to support Industry 5.0 and then develop training pathways for companies to acquire these skills.

The project is led by TNO in the Netherlands and involves 21 partners including high profile companies as well as other universities and, within Warwick, Warwick Manufacturing Group. For further details contact Chris Warhurst: c.warhurst@warwick.ac.uk

IER welcomes Dr Jamelia Harris

Dr Jamelia Harris joined IER as a Research Fellow this January. She is an economist and uses mixed methods to understand how employers and workers behave in the labour market. Jamelia’s research focuses on skills mismatch, the education-to-work transition, and how political/economic institutions affect job search and labour market outcomes.

Before joining IER she worked in international development as a Research Economist, providing policy advice to government. She previously taught at various universities in the UK (Oxford, Warwick, UCL, Cambridge), Lithuania and Sierra Leone.

Report published: Green Jobs and the Green Economy in York

Warwick IER undertook an analysis of green jobs and skills on York. Based on a methodology developed by IER, the report identifies the number, occupations and sectors of green jobs currently in the York travel-to-work area. The analysis differentiates between different types of 'green' jobs, and provides estimates based on different definitions.

The report also includes an analysis of the skills required by these green jobs. The conclusions contain a series of recommendations that York City Council could adopt in supporting residents, the workforce and employers in the transition to a net zero economy.

Dickinson, P., Cardenas-Rubio, J. and Warhurst, C. (2022). Green Jobs and the Green Economy in York. Coventry: Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.

Book published: Introduction to public services

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.

Starting with a definition of public services as services provided by or on behalf of the state, the first chapters of the book explore the importance of the political, economic and legal context in which public services operate, followed by management, leadership and strategy of public services. The third part comprises chapters dedicated to emerging issues, namely the growing importance of sustainability as a guideline for public services’ operations, the interaction between public services and the environmental crisis, the equality impact of public services, and public services as actors in the mitigation of climate change. The conclusion summarises key developments and outlines their importance of public services of the future.

10x Reasons and More for Good Employment Relations in NI

On 23 February 2023 Chris WarhurstLink opens in a new window and Sally WrightLink opens in a new window attended the 10x Reasons and More for Good Employment Relations in NI at the Labour Relations Agency NI.

Chris spoke at the meeting outlining the business case for companies to adopt more good jobs. And Sally Wright was part of the panel discussion.

Buying Social Justice’ project presents first findings

The research project "Buying social justice through procurement"Link opens in a new window of which IER's Dr Eva Katharina SarterLink opens in a new window is a Co-Investigator, presented first findings at the Fifth Fairness at Work Conference in Manchester in January.

The presentation by project researcher Dr Joyce MamodeLink opens in a new window comparatively explored the place of gender and race equality in the ‘Fair Work’ agendas in Scotland and Wales.

Other publications

Barnes, S-A., Hogarth, T., Wright, S., Baldauf, B. and Cárdenas Rubio, J. with Ragnarsdottir, H. and Elmezraoui, W. (2023). Labour market information and an assessment of its applications: a series of international case studies. London: Department for Education

Harris, J. (2023) Occupational Preferences of Skilled Workers in the Presence of a Large Development Sector, The Journal of Development Studies (59)3, 342-359, DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2022.2139605

IER projects

IER has a range of ongoing policy-relevant research projects. Find more information on IER's current projects.