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We hope that you enjoy some rest and relaxation over the summer. Parliament is in short recess, but the recent King’s Speech has shown the pace and breadth of ambition from the new administration which is plainly focused on delivery, with dedicated bills on Employment, Equality, Devolution, Infrastructure and Skills. These will be tied together with a modern, future-oriented industrial strategy aimed at creating good work and driving investment and responsible innovation for all communities. We share the optimism of the government – our research indicates that the potential of these initiatives is justified and will help mission-driven delivery across the country.
Yesterday, in response to a question in the House of Lords from Lord Jim Knight, former Co-Chair of the APPG for the Future of Work, the government clarified immediate proposals to regulate AI: targeted provisions focused on the safety risks of frontier AI combined with an expansion of the remit of the AI Safety Institute, which will be put on a statutory footing.
However, with frontier AI increasingly used in the workplace and other high-stakes domains, Baroness Jones, responding to a further question from the newly appointed Lord Hannett, former member of the Future of Work Commission, rightly emphasised the importance of ongoing assessment and thoughtful engagement to protect working people and ensure benefits are shared. This is likely to start with the new Smart Data and Digital Information Bill, and be followed as a ‘good jobs’ thread through other pieces of upcoming legislation, on which the now government made significant progress before the election, including the development of digital information principles in the workplace.
This makes the launch of our own architecture for regulatory innovation – the Sandbox – even more timely. The Sandbox will focus on just those matters that the new government will be keeping under review, uncovering critical developments in AI governance at work. In line with the government's plans to rely on the boosted capacity of the regulators combined with a new Regulatory Innovation Office and the Fair Work Agency, it will overseen by a cohort of UK We’ll be launching our first open call for participants very soon. Stay tuned.
This is a time of new beginnings for the country - and for IFOW. Joining IFOW from UKRI and RAI UK, we are thrilled to welcome Jo Marriott as our new Head of Partnerships. Jo will be working to ensure we build the critical partnerships needed across industry, civil society and public funders as we advance our work beyond the Pissarides Review, which - after three years of incredible work by our research teams - is coming towards conclusion. More about that below.
Anna, Abby and the IFOW team
It’s been three years since we began The Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing, and we’re nearing the finish line. Generously funded by the Nuffield Foundation, this project explores how technology is changing work in the UK and what that means for workers. We've collected and analysed novel data spanning system, firm, and individual levels. Here’s a peek into what we’ve discovered about employees’ experiences from focus groups and an online survey of over 6,000 participants.
The Review shows that while exposure to widespread digital ICTs is associated with improved quality of life (measured using the EQ5D scale), exposure to newer technologies like wearables, AI software, and robotics, is linked to poorer quality of life.
This finding is crucial as it indicates that the health and wellbeing effects of automation extend beyond job displacement, affecting those who interact with these technologies daily. Poorer quality of life among workers may stem from increased anxiety in adapting to- and familiarising with the new systems. These experiences could ease over time or not, although there’s nothing in the technology itself that pre-determines its outcome. Instead, we argue that the benefits or risks of new technologies for employees’ quality of life will depend on how these technologies are designed, developed, and deployed in the workplace.
Our findings also highlight that technology broadly changes various job aspects, from salary to decision-making opportunities, presenting both benefits and risks. The impact of technology on job quality might partly explain its observed effect on employees’ quality of life.
Employees frequently interacting with newer technologies perceive an increased risk of job loss to automation, a feeling that, even if not realised, may contribute to their lower quality of life. Surprisingly, while we expected new technologies to take over the boring tasks and free up time for more creative and meaningful work, high exposure to some technologies was linked to increased routinisation and work intensification.
As noted in an upcoming qualitative report, discussions with social and healthcare workers illustrated this intensification trend, telling us that while going paperless and using wearables streamlined processes and improved information exchange, it also added the burden digitising and inputting every movement and measurement.
With technological change happening at pace, the Review also examines how well-equipped our workforce is to navigate these changes and fulfill their goals. Using the ICECAP scale based on Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, we measured workforce capabilities, finding significant variability across age, ethnicity, occupational and industry groups.
Higher capabilities scores are consistently reported by those with access to independent representative structures such as trades unions and employee forums, who received formal training from their employer, and who perceive their organisation as having an employee-centred HR philosophy. This underscores the importance of organisational support in helping employees navigate technological change.
Jobs, skills, and workers’ needs and career motivations are evolving. We believe capabilities are both a driver and a result of overcoming obstacles workers face when moving within the labour market, whether transitioning from unemployment to employment, changing employers, or changing roles within the same employer.
The Mortensen-Pissarides framework suggests that economic shocks, such as the current technological revolution, can exacerbate obstacles like skills mismatches, spatial barriers to relocation, and information asymmetries. These ‘frictions’ can be costly for individuals, firms and societies, making it crucial to minimise them. Our latest report (forthcoming) offers the first operationalisation of frictions as perceived by employees and analyses their unequal distribution across the workforce.
Together, these reports provide a comprehensive understanding of how technological change is experienced by workers, how equipped they feel to navigate a changing and dynamic labour market, and the obstacles they perceive to freely move within and between work which, with or without machines, remains central to our lives.
This paper by the Institute for Global Change discusses the need to reimagine the UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to better address contemporary challenges. A provocative and highly optimistic take on the power of AI, it argues for a holistic transformation focusing on several key areas: integration of services, digital transformation, user-centric design, workforce development, policy innovation, collaboration and partnerships.
A recent TUC poll, conducted by Opinium, reveals strong public backing for Labour's New Deal for Working People, with support transcending party lines, including among Conservative and Reform voters.
The poll also highlighted a significant concern over living standards, with over half of respondents indicating that their financial situation is worsening. TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak emphasised that these policies are part of Labour's broader strategy to improve job quality and boost the economy, aiming to reset the UK's economic model to benefit working people.
The Ada Lovelace Institute’s recent blog explores the growing role of AI in the public sector, highlighting the tension between hype and reality. It argues that while AI promises significant benefits in areas like public services and governance, but there’s a risk of overestimating its immediate impact.
Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce: EU Policy Priorities for Skills
The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) has released a report outlining key EU policy priorities for developing future skills. The report stresses the urgent need for a strategic approach to workforce development amid rapid technological changes and economic shifts.
This report reflects similar insights from IFOW’s “Old Skills, New Skills” paper, which also stresses the evolving nature of skills needed in today’s job market, highlighting the need for upskilling and reskilling to adapt to technological advancements. The CEPS report further highlights the necessity of investing in lifelong learning and aligning educational systems with labour market demands. Both reports advocate for proactive measures to ensure that the workforce remains adaptable and resilient.
Working Assumptions: What We Thought We Knew Before Covid and Generative AI – And What We Know Now by Julia Hobsbawm explores the transformative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and generative AI on work environments and practices. In this excellent, comprehensive and highly readable book, Hobsbawm examines the rapid changes and challenges this "Amazing Age" of work presents, focusing on six key areas: jobs and skills, commuting and office life, culture, wellbeing, leadership, and generational shifts. Highly recommended by the IFOW team!
Machine learning (ML) is becoming a prominent topic in media studies, yet online ML courses remain underexplored. A new study focuses on Google's Machine Learning Crash Course and IBM's introductory course on Machine Learning with Python. This research analyses the technical content and assumptions of these courses, revealing how they reflect the companies' interests and power dynamics.
Google and IBM use these courses not just to educate, but to recruit new talent and reinforce their dominance in AI. Their portrayal of ML as fair and democratic contrasts sharply with their actual corporate practices focused on efficiency and performance. This highlights a significant gap between the image promoted by these tech giants and the broader impacts of their technologies, pointing to a need for alternative approaches and perspectives in AI.
This webinar hosted by TechUK focuses on recent changes in employment law (TUPE) related to business transfers.
This event is aimed at helping businesses understand and adapt to evolving employment laws, ensuring they can effectively manage business transfers while maintaining legal compliance.
Register here.
Bringing the public voice into frontline research is a key priority for the NIHR, as it often enhances both the quality and outcomes of research projects. Public and patient involvement in research (PPIE) is highly valued, with participants eager to shape research directions. In the field of AI, where issues of data integrity, trust, and transparency are prominent, establishing effective dialogue between researchers and the public is crucial.
Hosted by the Alan Turing Institute, this event will discuss a selection of case studies from the front lines: what works, what doesn’t - and what you can do about it.
Register here.
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar that will discuss the future of living standards in the UK over the current parliamentary term. The focus will be on understanding the key drivers of disposable income growth, including factors like real wages, employment, housing costs, and changes in tax and benefits.
Following a presentation of the key highlights from its 2024 Living Standards Outlook, leading experts will explore what might happen to disposable incomes over the parliament, and how policy can shape and improve the outlook.
Get tickets here.
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Anna Thomas MBE
