Research interests

Sally's research interests focus around the following topics: job quality, working conditions, new forms of work, workplace innovation, the impact of technology on work, labour market programmes, intersectionality and work, work-life balance, workplace restructuring and wellbeing at work. Sally would be interested in supervising research students in these or related fields.

Academic profile

Sally is a Senior Research Fellow at IER. She is an experienced mixed methods researcher with an established track record in managing large-scale research projects. She completed her doctoral studies in the field of job quality.

She is currently a member of the large-scale European Horizon 2020 research project examining the impact of technology on the future of work. She is also undertaking research on employment models for Northern Ireland’s Labour Relations Agency (LRA). Sally recently completed research for Eurofound on convergence of working conditions in the European Union, for the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on a tasks-based analysis of jobs, and for the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and JP Morgan Chase Foundation on the role of parents in providing career guidance to their children. She was also involved in a pan-European Horizon 2020 research project examining job quality, innovation and employment outcomes.

Immediately prior to joining IER in 2014, Sally was at the Workplace Research Centre (WRC) at the University of Sydney Business School. She was the project manager and lead researcher for a number of large research projects. Before entering academia, Sally worked for the public service in industrial relations and employment policy, a national industry skills council and in the national campaigning and bargaining unit of the Finance Sector Union of Australia.

Current projects

• Labour market and skills demand horizon scanning and qualitative scenarios, with Terence Hogarth and Chris Warhurst; Funded by the Department for Education; Project Duration: March 2021 - July 2021

• Evaluation of careers education and world of work programme, with Sally-Anne Barnes and Lorraine Johnson; Funded by Founders4Schools; Project duration: May - August 2021

• The role of parents in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported. With Sally-Anne Barnes, Michael Orton, Jenny Bimrose, Alan Brown, John Gough (Centre for Lifelong Learning). Funded by The Gatsby Foundation. Project Start Date 01/08/2019 - Project End Date: 31/12/2020
• BEYOND 4.0 - Inclusive Futures for Europe BEYOND the impacts of Industrie 4.0 and Digital Disruption. With Chris Warhurst, Sally-Anne Barnes, Sudipa Sarkar with Chris Mathieu (Lund University), led by Steven Dhondt (TNO).Funded by European Commission. Project Start Date: 01/01/2019 - Project End Date: 30/12/2022 [details]

• Evaluation of the Founders4Schools careers programme for teachers. With Dr Sally-Anne Barnes, Stef Poole and Gaby Atfield, Founded by Founders4Schools. Project Start Date: December 2019 - Project End Date: July 2022

All projects

Selected publications

• Barnes, S-A., Hogarth, T., Cárdenas-Rubio, J., Wright, S., Hawthorne, M., Bosworth, D., & Bosworth, L. (2021). Strategic, Accessible Labour Market Intelligence: Labour market demand and supply of skills (Report 1). IER
  University of Warwick/Skills Development Scotland.
• Bosworth, D. with Hogarth, T., Cárdenas-Rubio, J., Barnes, S-A., Wright, S., & Bosworth, L. (2021). Strategic, Accessible Labour Market Intelligence: Performance of the labour market (Report 2). IER University of Warwick/Skills Development Scotland.
• Barnes, S-A., Bosworth, L., Wright, S., Hawthorne, M., Hogarth, T., Cárdenas Rubio, J. & Bosworth, D. (2021). Strategic, Accessible Labour Market Intelligence: Digital platform (Report 3). IER University of Warwick/Skills Development Scotland.
• Barnes, S-A., Bimrose, J., Brown, A., Gough, J. & Wright, S. (2020). The role of parents and carers in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported: International evidence report. Coventry: University of Warwick.
• Barnes, S-A., Bimrose, J., Brown, A., Gough, J. & Wright, S. (2020). The role of parents and carers in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported: Practice report. Coventry: University of Warwick.
• Barnes, S-A. and Wright, S.A. (2019). The feasibility of developing a methodology for measuring the distance travelled and soft outcomes for long-term unemployed people participating in Active Labour Market Programmes. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
• Barnes, S-A., Wright, S., Irving, P. and Deganis, I. (2015). Identification of latest trends and current developments in methods to profile jobseekers in European public employment services: final report. Brussels: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission.
• Bryan, D., Rafferty, M., Toner, P. and Wright, S. (2017). Financialisation and labour in the Australian commercial construction industry. The Economic and Labour Relations Review.Found at Online first: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1035304617739504
• Gautié, J., Ahlstrand, R., Green, A. and Wright, S. (2017). ‘Innovation, Job Quality and Employment Outcomes in the Aerospace Industry: Evidence from France, Sweden and the UK’, in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, Chapter 2, pp35-87. QuInnE Work Package 6, Deliverable D6.3. Found at: http://www.quinne.eu/
• Green, A., Illéssy, M., Koene, B., Makó, C. and Wright, S. (2017). ‘Innovation, Job Quality and Employment Outcomes in Care: Evidence from Hungary, the Netherlands and the UK’ in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, Chapter 8, pp333-386. QuInnE Work Package 6, Deliverable D6.3. Found at: http://www.quinne.eu/
• Keune, M., Payton, N., Been, W., Green, A., Mathieu, C., Postels, D., Rehnström, F., Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2017). ‘Innovation and Job Quality in the Games Industry in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK’ in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, Chapter 6, pp234-279. QuInnE Work Package 6, Deliverable D6.3. Found at: http://www.quinne.eu/
• Mathieu, C., Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2016) ‘Jakość pracy jako dźwignia innowacji organizacyjnych oraz rola zarządzania zasobami ludzkimi’ (‘Job Quality as a Lever for Organizational Innovation’ and the Role of Human Resource Management’) in Strumińska-Kutra, M.; Rok, B. (eds) Innowacje w miejscu pracy. Pomiędzy efektywnością a jakością życia społecznego (Workplace innovations: Between efficiency and quality of work life), pp 51-74, Warszawa: Poltext Publishing House
• Mathieu, C., Wright, S., Boethius, S. and Green, A. (2020). 'Innovations on a shoestring: Consequences for job quality of public service innovations in health and social care', European Journal of Workplace Innovation, 5(2): 4-30.
• Stuart, F., Pautz, H., Crimin, S. and Wright, S. (2016). What makes for decent work? A Study with low paid workers in Scotland (Initial Findings). A UWS-Oxfam Partnership report with the support of Warwick Institute for Employment Research. Glasgow: Oxfam Scotland.
• Stuart, F., Pautz, H., and Wright, S. (2016). Decent Work for Scotland's Low-Paid Workers: A Job to be done. A UWS-Oxfam Partnership report with the support of Warwick Institute for Employment Research. Glasgow: Oxfam Scotland.
• Warhurst, C., Mathieu, C. and Wright, S. (2017). ‘Workplace Innovation and the Quality of Working Life in an Age of Uberisation’, chapter in P. Oeij, D. Rus and F. Pot (editors) Workplace Innovation: Theory, Research and Practice, Aligning Perspectives on Health, Safety and Well-Being series, Springer Publishing Company.
• Warhurst, C; Muñoz de Bustillo, L. R.; Antón Pérez, J-I.; Grande Martín, R.; Pinto, H. F.; Wright, S. (2019). Upward convergence in working conditions, Eurofound, ISBN: 978-92-897-1997-1.
• Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2014). If it's innovation you want, think about job quality. In: BBVA (eds) Reinventing the Company in the Digital Age, Madrid: BBVA, pp. 157-174.
• Warhurst, C. and S. Wright (2020) ‘What makes a good job for low-waged workers?’ in T. Dundon and A. Wilkinson (eds) Case Studies in Work, Employment and Human Resource Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Warhurst, C., Wright, S. and Lyonette, C. (2017) Understanding and measuring job quality, CIPD Research Services Job Quality Study, Report 1. London: CIPD.
• Wright, S., Warhurst, C., Lyonette, C. and Sarkar, S. (2018) Understanding and measuring job quality, CIPD Research Services Job Quality Study, Report 2. London: CIPD.

All publications

All conference presentations