Job Quality in the 21st Century
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Education, Practice & Society
Abstract
Research on job quality dates back hundreds of years, but by the start of this century the idea of aspiring for 'more and better jobs' had gained currency, not just among social science scholars but in the highest circles of some national governments and international organisations. The International Labour Organisation put forth its objective of 'Decent Work', while the European Union and then the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) initiated programmes to measure job quality, with the eventual aim of persuading policy-makers to include it in their aspirations. In 2015 'decent work' entered, at least nominally, into the foreground of the United Nation's priorities, built into its Sustainable Development Goal 8 for 2030. In 2017 the UK government published its report, 'The Taylor review of modern working practices'.
'Job quality' refers to much more than just the wages paid, including several domains that research has found to contribute to satisfying people's needs from paid work. These include security and future prospects, the quality of the working time, and several intrinsic aspects of the work itself and the workplace environment. However, despite progress over the last two decades, there remain conceptual confusions and huge gaps and inconsistencies in our understanding of job quality, both in Britain and across the world. There is confusion, for example, about whether to treat job quality as an objective or subjective concept, and whether it should include the ability for workers to participate in influencing the work that they are required to do Despite its empirically-established importance for our well-being, we know very much less about whether job quality is improving or declining than we do about economic growth or trends in the Human Development Index.
This project is premised on the observation that there is, nevertheless, considerable if incomplete information about job quality in many existing data series around the world. The research, which is to be based on secondary data analysis, will produce new knowledge about trends in job quality, and I will use it to provide vital input to a major new book on job quality. Its provisional subtitle is The Nascent Science of Job Quality, and it is conceived as a sequel to my earlier book from 2006 (Demanding Work, Princeton University Press). This book will be an important outcome of the project and, it is hoped, influence and enhance the study of job quality for some years to come.
The specific objectives of the research are: a) to produce clarity and consistency in the discussion of job quality, both among scholars of diverse disciplines and among policy-makers; b) to describe and account where possible for trends in available indicators of job quality in various domains; c) to devise and operationalise a consistent definition of 'bad jobs' across countries, and undertake an analysis of the determinants of bad jobs in different countries; d) to estimate how important job quality is for workers' life satisfaction; and d) to compare changes across countries, and consider whether trends conform to expected patterns given the institutional similarities and differences between countries. The reservoir of data series to be analysed covers approximately 50 countries, the majority from the developed world.
The outcomes and findings of this research will feed into the book, as well as into scientific papers. I will also communicate the findings to policy-makers and the policy research community. I will engage with relevant UK bodies, including government departments, the TUC, CBI and especially the CIPD which has a special interest in job quality in this country; and with my contacts from the International Labour Organisation, the European Union and the OECD employment department.
'Job quality' refers to much more than just the wages paid, including several domains that research has found to contribute to satisfying people's needs from paid work. These include security and future prospects, the quality of the working time, and several intrinsic aspects of the work itself and the workplace environment. However, despite progress over the last two decades, there remain conceptual confusions and huge gaps and inconsistencies in our understanding of job quality, both in Britain and across the world. There is confusion, for example, about whether to treat job quality as an objective or subjective concept, and whether it should include the ability for workers to participate in influencing the work that they are required to do Despite its empirically-established importance for our well-being, we know very much less about whether job quality is improving or declining than we do about economic growth or trends in the Human Development Index.
This project is premised on the observation that there is, nevertheless, considerable if incomplete information about job quality in many existing data series around the world. The research, which is to be based on secondary data analysis, will produce new knowledge about trends in job quality, and I will use it to provide vital input to a major new book on job quality. Its provisional subtitle is The Nascent Science of Job Quality, and it is conceived as a sequel to my earlier book from 2006 (Demanding Work, Princeton University Press). This book will be an important outcome of the project and, it is hoped, influence and enhance the study of job quality for some years to come.
The specific objectives of the research are: a) to produce clarity and consistency in the discussion of job quality, both among scholars of diverse disciplines and among policy-makers; b) to describe and account where possible for trends in available indicators of job quality in various domains; c) to devise and operationalise a consistent definition of 'bad jobs' across countries, and undertake an analysis of the determinants of bad jobs in different countries; d) to estimate how important job quality is for workers' life satisfaction; and d) to compare changes across countries, and consider whether trends conform to expected patterns given the institutional similarities and differences between countries. The reservoir of data series to be analysed covers approximately 50 countries, the majority from the developed world.
The outcomes and findings of this research will feed into the book, as well as into scientific papers. I will also communicate the findings to policy-makers and the policy research community. I will engage with relevant UK bodies, including government departments, the TUC, CBI and especially the CIPD which has a special interest in job quality in this country; and with my contacts from the International Labour Organisation, the European Union and the OECD employment department.
Organisations
Publications
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Berg J
(2023)
Risks to job quality from digital technologies: Are industrial relations in Europe ready for the challenge?
in European Journal of Industrial Relations
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Description | 1. Policy-makers are increasingly being urged to base policies on their effects on wellbeing. It is well-known that being in work considerably improves people's psychological wellbeing compared with being unemployed. We have gone beyond to investigate the relative importance of the quality of jobs, as compared to other parts of our lives, for our general wellbeing. Our finding -- based on much evidence from across Europe, the United States, Australia and South Korea -- is that among those employed job quality matters a great deal. Its importance for wellbeing is similar to the importance of health, and considerably greater than the importance of other conventional factors, including marriage, child-rearing, age and household income. We conclude that social science research, and policy-makers, should devote relatively more resources than at present into understanding and improving job quality. 2. Many commentators have expressed fears or hopes about the future of employment as digitalised technologies become more pervasive, especially those driven by Artificial Intelligence. This project has been looking, not at the quantity of jobs but on their quality. With colleagues I have investigated the risks of digital technologies for job quality both in recent years and years to come. We find that for every domain of job quality -- earnings, working time quality, autonomy and skill, work intensity, the social environment and the physical environment -- the implications are ambiguous. Whether digitalisation of work processes improves or worsens job quality is likely to be affected by the extent to which employees are involved, either with the design or with the implementation of innovative technologies and practices. In this light, we look at some embryonic trends towards regulation of digital technologies in the European Union, concluding that the development of efficient regulation is going to be important in coming years. 3. The understanding of the concept of job quality -- and how it can improve people's lives -- has moved some way since 1999 when the International Labour Office resolved to put 'decent work' for all at the centre of its mission. By 2015 decent work had become embedded in the UN's sustainable development goals. This project has applied the concept of 'capability' to enhance understanding of how job quality contributes to the wellbeing of workers, through emphasising the objective character of jobs quality, the social and personal and institutional factors that 'convert' job quality to wellbeing, and through emphasising the importance for workers to be able to exercise agency through their jobs. |
Exploitation Route | General social science surveys, including panels and cohorts, should devote more survey time and resources to measuring job quality |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Communities and Social Services/Policy Construction Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Electronics Energy Environment Financial Services and Management Consultancy Healthcare Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Government Democracy and Justice Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Pharmaceu |
URL | https://francisgreenspersonalwebpage.com/the-quality-of-work-and-employment/ |
Description | It is early days for wider impact, but already there is non-academic interest in the findings of this project. The findings surrounding the importance of job quality are going to be used by a private sector consultant practitioner who advises companies on the management of team working, and writes on these issues. I have been invited to discuss trends in job quality, and issues of measurement, by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. |
First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Pharmaceu |
Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |
Description | Evidence to parliamentary committee |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Description | Discussion with the National Education Union about teachers' working conditions |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Meeting with the leaders of the National Education Union, to discuss teachers' working conditions and the question of how they had changed since before the pandemic. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Engagement with CIPD |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Presentation of talk to the Applied Research Conference of the CIPD. Talked about the importance of job quality for worker well-being. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Expert panel member: Future of Work project, Bruegel |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Regular meetings to discuss papers and issues surrounding the future of work in the age of the fourth industrial revolution. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.bruegel.org/ |
Description | ISQOLS virtual workshop for senior researchers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A talk about the meaning, measurement and distribution of 'bad jobs' across Europe. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | IWPLMS meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation about job quality trends. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Launch of Surrey University Centre for the Future of Work |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | This was a talk delivered at the launch of Future of Work Centre at Surrey University. The topic was: The Importance of Job Quality. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to CGHE seminar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A talk to the international seminars on higher education held by the Centre for Global Higher Education |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Presentation to ISQOLS meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation about the importance of job quality for general wellbeing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Presentation to wellbeing experts and researchers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A talk about the importance of job quality for general wellbeing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Risks to job quality |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Presentation to researchers, policy-makers and practitioners at the annual conference of Bruegel, a Brussels-based think-tank. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |