While the COVID-19 pandemic and current cost of living crisis has exacerbated social inequalities and economic insecurity, it has also opened a window of opportunity to explore new forms of policy innovation to build back a fairer and more economically secure society. In this blog and in a new report for the Work and Equalities […]
Homeworking experiences during lockdown
Like millions of others, call centre workers were required to work from home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, Professor Debra Howcroft and Professor Phil Taylor examine the experiences of call centre staff and provide recommendations for improvement in the future. Managerial staff often directly and indirectly control call centre workers […]
Rewriting the creative sector’s digital transformation
The creative sector is incredibly diverse and there are growing disparities between those who are already familiar with the digital world of work and those who are struggling to adapt. In this blog, Dr Anita Greenhill addresses the challenges that the sector will face in the coming years and provides examples of best practice from […]
Accelerated automation and digital advances in the world of food retail
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted consumers to buy food online, which meant that food retailers had to adapt quickly. In this blog, Abbie Winton explores the changes that food retailers had to make during the pandemic and how these changes may have long-lasting consequences for the sector. Every major food retailer sought additional workers, which helped […]
Filling a youth-shaped gap in the FE White Paper: Reducing inequalities in post-16 progression
The new Further Education (FE) White Paper claims its proposals will transform post-16 education and training in England. It acknowledges that not enough people develop technical skills at Level 3 and above. Yet it has nothing to say about the thousands of young people who do not progress smoothly from GCSEs to Level 3 programmes. […]
Why parents need the right to stay home without risk to their income or jobs when schools are closed
Under the UK government’s furlough scheme, parents can be placed on furlough if they have caring responsibilities for a child who is at home as a result of school closures. However, a parent’s request for furlough depends upon the agreement of their employer, which is not always forthcoming. In this blog, Dr Isabel Tavora and […]
Job value and job status during the COVID-19 pandemic: Recognising migrants as ‘critical’ but neglected workers
During the current pandemic, governments have devoted much debate and effort to the maintenance of critical sectors of the economy – namely those that need to remain active to guarantee basic economic and social functioning, at least in the short to medium term. Many of these sectors are heavily dependent on workers typically seen as […]
Recognising the role of key workers now and in the future employment landscape
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has become more aware and appreciative of the workers now called ‘key workers’. However, organisational change and deregulation over recent years has led to high levels of job degradation in key work sectors. In this blog, Gail Hebson and Miguel Martínez Lucio introduce and present research from a range […]
Sharing the load: How work sharing can reduce unemployment, improve gender equality, and benefit mental health
The need to build back better has received widespread endorsement, not only because the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for change but also because it has revealed the high price paid by those facing inequality in the labour market, including inequality by gender. Here, Professor Jill Rubery, Director of the Work and Equalities Institute, discusses […]
Bogus self-employment and COVID-19: an added layer of insecurity
The outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis has raised concerns about its impact on precarious and vulnerable workers when most of them have been at the front line during the crisis and their work has been revealed as essential. Dr Marti Lopez-Andreu, from the Work and Equalities Institute, investigates some of these key workers in areas […]