Institute for Employment Research » IER News & blogs

Orthopaedic Research UK conference: Keep Britain Working - MSK Innovation in the Workplace

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Orthopaedic Research UK (ORUK) are hosting a conference to showcase breakthrough technologies, practical deployment strategies and collaborative opportunities to help employers prevent work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.

The event will include speakers from organisations including British Airways, BUPA, Transport for London, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Institute for Employment Research. It will also feature experts on the use of ergonomics and robotics, plus start-ups developing innovative workplace solutions for MSK health.

The conference takes place on 13 October 2026 at the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1. Further information and booking can be found here.

Developing an evaluation framework for large-language model careers advice

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Careers advice is a critical component of UK education and work transitions, particularly for disadvantaged groups. Around 33% of students currently use Large language model (LLM) tools for guidance, but policy makers, service managers, and practitioners lack evidence on how well they perform.

A new project, led by IER’s Associate Professor Peter Dickinson and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, will address this evidence gap. The project will develop and pilot a framework to evaluate LLM-powered careers advice tools against a human adviser baseline. Further education students and advisors from college around the UK will take part. The advisory group, chaired by Huw Morris, University College London, met in-person at IER this month, bringing a wealth of experience from the Higher Education and Skills sector.

Presentation at the Development Studies Association conference

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:00:00 GMT

IER's Dr Jamelia Harris presented early findings from the project "Colonial legacies and the labour market in the English-speaking Caribbean" at the Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference 2026. The conference was held in Dublin and brought together development scholars from across the globe.

Dr. Harris' presentation highlighted the economic and labour market transitions in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago from 1800 to today, and how these transitions have been influenced by colonial legacies versus post-independence policies, situating the analysis in debates around dependency versus developmental states theories.

New HSE advisory group on workplace psychosocial hazards and stress

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:00:00 GMT

In July, IER Director Chris Warhurst was invited to join a new Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Advisory Group on Psychosocial Hazard Interventions. The purpose of the group is to provide expert challenge, advice and be a sounding board for the HSE as it looks to develop policy and regulation on psychosocial hazards and work-related stress.

Digital platforms, decent work and developing countries

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jamelia Harris has published a new article in the journal Development in Practice. With the rise of platform work in developing countries, the paper attempts to position this trend in the decent work agenda by exploring the conditions likely to be associated with measurable decent platform work.

The analysis uses Fairwork as a proxy for decent work and offers indicative findings that having verifiable evidence to score fair and decent work among platform companies is correlated with the level of development, regulatory quality, and having surplus labour. Findings are also suggestive of ethical relativism as the same platform is less likely to have evidence of working conditions in developing vs developed countries. From a policy standpoint, the findings reinforce previous calls for international standards to regulate platform companies, and make the case for international organisations to help capacitate local agents to effectively monitor platform work.

How the interaction of AI and algorithmic management shapes job quality outcomes

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:00:00 GMT

The study, titled "The Dual Face of Workplace AI: A Typology of Digital Work Configurations and Job Quality Implications in Europe," challenges conventional narratives that technological exposure alone dictates workforce outcomes. The research maps how worker-led AI tool usage and employer-led algorithmic management collide to create deeply stratified workplace realities.

Ultimately, the analysis indicates that supply-side policy frameworks focusing solely on worker upskilling or expanding technology access have structural limitations. Dr Lee demonstrates that without directly regulating algorithmic monitoring and control practices, expanding AI access risks simply transitioning more workers into high-intensity, highly managed configurations rather than genuinely empowering them.

Chris Warhurst speaks at Cedefop event promoting skills, productivity and job quality

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:00:00 GMT

The European Commission is keen to deliver a Quality Jobs Roadmap. Director of IER, Chris Warhurst was invited to speak at a Cedefop event in Thessaloniki in June.

Attended by European employers, trade unions and policymakers, the event focused on the skills nexus between productivity and job quality, with Chris presenting data on the link between job quality and innovation and productivity as part of building the business case for good jobs.

Dr Sangwoo Lee's Expert Comment on ONS Labour Market Statistics (March 2026 - May 2026)

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Dr Sangwoo Lee, Assistant Professor, Institute for Employment Research, said: 'The minor reduction in unemployment seen in today's data, is accompanied by a 0.3 % increase in economic inactivity - partly driven by discouraged jobseekers retreating from the market rather than being absorbed into stable jobs. We're also seeing a gradual shift towards non-traditional working arrangements. Strengthening protection these workers should be a priority.

Vivensa showcase Chris Warhurst and team’s research into stroke patient transfer

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Researchers from IER and ��ý Medical School have developed a model to identify barriers to the effective transfer of stroke patients between hospital and social care settings.

We’re delighted that Vivensa Foundation, who funded the work, have showcased the findings and its PI, IER Director Chris Warhurst, as the ‘Academy member’ of the month.

The team lead by Dr Gianni Anelli included Professor Derek Bosworth, Dr Jason Madan (��ý Medical School) and Dr M.A. Whitehead, a stroke consultant at University Hospital Crosshouse, Scotland, where the team hope to trial the model using real world data.

New publication: Job quality and worker health in hospitality

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:00:00 GMT

IER's Dr Sangwoo Lee and Prof Chris Warhurst, alongside Prof Angela Knox (University of Sydney) and Dr Sally Wright (University of Sheffield), have published a new article titled "Understanding the relationship between job quality and general health in hospitality: Evidence from Australia". It draws on survey data from 427 Australian hospitality workers to examine how six dimensions of job quality relate to workers' self-rated general health, and whether these relationships vary by gender.

The findings point to the need for structural, job-level interventions, for instance, stronger workplace representation, reduced employment insecurity, expanded training and progression, and improved pay, alongside gender-sensitive measures targeting autonomy for female workers and social support for male workers.