ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations from across the UK. Between them they have a huge breadth of knowledge, covering such subjects as the labour market, job quality, employment relations and the changing nature of work.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Tom Baum who is Professor of Tourism Employment in the Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Background:

Tom has over 40 years of experience in vocational and higher education and specialises in workforce planning, curriculum development, programme design and assessment. He has many years of experience as a public sector manager, teacher, researcher, and consultant in over 40 countries.

Tom holds or has held visiting appointments to universities in Australia, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Wales.

Area of expertise:

Tom’s research focuses on policy-informing analysis of work in frontline services, specifically international hospitality, tourism, leisure and retail. He has undertaken studies on behalf of a wide range of international agencies including COMCEC, the EU, ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNWTO and the World Bank.

Why Tom became a ReWAGE expert:

Post-COVID, hospitality work worldwide has been in crisis and new thinking and approaches to evidence gathering and policy responses are badly needed. ReWAGE provided a route into addressing this crisis in the wider context of change in work and employment across the wider economy.

What achievement makes Tom most proud:

Supporting the development of young researchers with a shared passion for the critical study of work and employment in frontline services through doctoral supervision and collaborative research/ publications.

Current projects

Tom is currently Academic Advisor to the Scottish Fair Work Commission’s Hospitality Inquiry. He is convenor of the ReWAGE working group on hospitality employment. He is a founder member of the Global Hospitality Research Alliance (GHRA), a collective of researchers from 12 countries using their research to advocate for meaningful change in hospitality work and employment.

Co-investigator on funded research projects led by colleagues in Canada, Hong Kong and Japan.

Other interests:

Passionate about (traditional) cricket, the highs and lows of support for Southampton Football Club and foraging for wild fruit and other berries.

Recent publications

Tom has published ten books and over 175 scientific papers on work and the workplace in the tourism, hospitality and wellness sectors. He has written extensively about workforce policy, planning and development in hospitality and tourism at micro, meso and macro levels.

· A review of research into tourism work and employment: launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on tourism work and employment

· Service quality of online food delivery mobile application: an examination of the spill over effects of mobile app satisfaction

· 'He is the customer, I will say yes': notions of power, precarity and consent to sexual harassment by customers in the gay tourism industry

· Tourism work, media and COVID-19: a changed narrative?

· 'It's not a big deal': customer misbehaviour and social washing in hospitality

ReWAGE’s Expert Group is uniquely placed to offer the government informed practical advice and policy recommendations to support its strategic response to the recovery and renewal of work and employment in the UK as it tackles the impact of Covid-19 and other challenges.