A fifth of UK workers are employed in the public sector. Though public sector work is obvious crucial – schools, hospitals, police and so on – measuring performance can be a challenge as output is not…
Across the world, governments are asking how to close the gap between the world of education and the world of employment. Now a new collection of papers has set out just how important employer interventions…
The norm of permanent full-time terms of employment is under serious challenge. In Australia today more than one-third of employed people work on more variable terms – in particular as casuals (19%), independent…
In a world of iPhones and drones, people are right to wonder why they are still working so hard. The past century saw huge technological advances and yet there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in leisure…
Indian women are more educated than they have ever been. Yet, the latest figures show that fewer of them are working. Some have attributed the decline to increased enrolment in education of younger population…
The UK’s workforce is getting older and older, and manufacturing will be particularly hard hit. However, wiser firms will make the most of the opportunities this opens up – older workers have the skills…
Germany’s apprenticeship system is often put up on a pedestal. Now, as other countries struggle to emulate it, Germany is even beginning to export its model of vocational training. The trick to the German…
Like fewer causalities on the road or at war, new data released on the number of 16 to 24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs), was conveyed as good news in what is a bad situation…
New figures have been published on the number of young people the government classes as NEET – not in any form of education, employment or training. The statistics show that the number of 16-24 year olds…
Zimbabwean migrants to Britain are often referred to by those at home as being the BBC – British bottom cleaners – fit only for the most menial roles in the former colonial “mother country”. But our research…
Anthony Fisher, a lecturer at Nottingham University, has become the latest casualty of unwise social media use after causing outrage with Facebook posts about his students and their intellectual ability…
With a major review of workplace awards underway, the Federal Government has asked the Fair Work Commission to consider whether penalty rates and other minimum conditions are still relevant. In this Viewpoints…
In workplaces right now it is increasingly tough to avoid what I call “pathology days” – those working days that are annually hijacked by some insistent PR agency or charity trying to raise awareness of…
The focus of conventional employment policy is on creating “more work”. People without work and in receipt of benefits are viewed as a drain on the state and in need of assistance or direct coercion to…
Complacency can kill. You would have to be living under a rock to be unaware that heat exposure can be deadly. Yet every year Australia – supposedly the “clever country” – endangers the lives of everyone…
The creative industries have not only survived, but also thrived, in the recession, according to data released by the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport. This may come as a shock. The report details…
London’s tube users face disruption in the New Year as the unions threaten strike action. Debate on the subject is as heated as ever, with both sides racing for the moral high ground. But, though London…
A report by the Campaign for Social Science is challenging some tired stereotypes about social scientists. As The i reported, social science graduates are defying the “layabout myth”. The report “What…
The north-south divide is a powerful trope within popular English culture and it’s also evident within the country’s health. A recent report by Public Health England showed that between 2009 and 2011…