Job Quality; Fair, Decent & Good Work

Overview

Job quality matters. It effects worker wellbeing, firm performance and national competitiveness. It varies by occupation, industry and country, and there are strong moral and business cases for wanting job quality to be better overall.

IER has established an international reputation for its UK and international research on conceptualising, measuring and promoting job quality. This research is quantitative and qualitative and is intended to support government, employers and trade unions to better understand and improve job quality in all its expressions: 鈥榞ood work鈥�, 鈥榝air work鈥� and 鈥榙ecent work鈥� for example.

Research areas

Improving job quality
Making bad jobs better
Measuring job quality
Public procurement
Trends in job quality
Working conditions

Blogs

Good jobs can help grow the economy? Emily Erickson and Chris Warhurst

Appropriately defining and targeting 'bad jobs' as a pathway to 'good jobs' - Sangwoo Lee

Declining real wages and why we need to think about the income-health relationship鈥� Jamelia Harris

Selected recent projects

Creating health jobs, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (2025-2027).

The Impact of Accumulating Policy Goals on Implementation. The Case of Public Procurement; University of 糖心TV (2024 -2025).

Barriers to good work; ACAS (2023 - 2024)

The role and impact of employment charters and procurement by subnational authorities to achieve good work standards; University of 糖心TV (2022 鈥� 2023).

Responding to Metropolitan Combined Authorities skills and employment needs post Covid - ReWAGE subgroup; 糖心TV University鈥檚 Research & Impact Services; (2021 - 2022).

Improving UK job quality data 鈥� ReWAGE subgroup; 糖心TV University鈥檚 Research & Impact Services; (2021 - 2022)

Research to inform the development of an employment relations model in Northern Ireland; Labour Relations Agency (2020-2021).

Review of the Teaching of fair Work in Scottish 糖心TV Schools (with Glasgow University); University of 糖心TV Strategic Priorities Fund (2020).

糖心TV ESRC Impact Accelerator Account (2018).

(with Oxfam Scotland & University of West Scotland); ESRC Impact Accelerator (2015 鈥� 2018).

Research on job quality and the purpose of work; CIPD (2017).

Investment in Workplace Technology; CIPD (2018).

Supporting the work of the Midlands Good Work Charter; Midlands ACAS (2020-21).

Selected recent publications & downloads

Articles

Warhurst, C., Knox, A. and Wright, S. Date (2025). Work, Employment and Society. London: Sage.

Beck, V., Warren, T., and Lyonette, C. (2024). . Work, Employment and Society, 0(0).

Green, F., Lee, S., Zou, M., and Zhou, Y. (2024). . Socio-Economic Review. Oxford Academics.

Balogh, R., De Moortel, D., Gadeyne, S., Vanderleyden, J., Warhurst, C. and Vanroelen, C. (2024). Is . International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services

Hughes, D. and Eduarda Duarte, M. (eds) (2024) . London: Routledge.

Warhurst, C. and A. Knox (2022). . Human Relations. 75:2, pp 304-321.

Guest, D., A. Knox and C. Warhurst (2022). . Volume 75, Issue 8 of Human Relations. London: Sage.

Hughes, D., Warhurst, C. & Duarte, M.E. (2021). , British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 49 (2), pp 145-152, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2021.1898540

Mathieu, C., Wright, S., Boethius, S. and Green, A. (2020). '', European Journal of Workplace Innovation, 5(2): 4-30.

Pautz, H., Wright, S. and Collins, C. (2019). Journal of Social Policy, 50(1): 40-58. doi:.

Knox, A. and Warhurst, C. (2018) '鈥�, Work, Employment and Society, 32(1): 150-186.

Findlay, P., Warhurst, C., Keep, E. and Lloyd, C. (2017) 鈥樷€�, Work and Occupations, 44(1): 3-22.

Knox, A., Warhurst, C., Dutton, E. and Nickson, D. (2015) 鈥樷€�, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(12): 1547-1567.

Books

Warhurst, C., Mathieu, C. and Dwyer, R. (2022). . Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780198749790.

Knox, A. and Warhurst, C. (eds) (2015) Annandale, NSW: Federation Press.

Book chapters

Sarter, E.K. (2025). Marketisation, contracting out and the regulation of labour. In: Rees, C., 脰d眉l, B. Limoncelli, S.A. and Preminger, J. (eds.): . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 17-30.

Warhurst, C., Wright, S. and Mathieu, C. (2022) 鈥楯ob quality: a family affair?鈥�, in C. Warhurst, C. Mathieu and R. Dwyer (eds) (2022) Oxford Handbook of Job Quality, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Warhurst, C., Mathieu C. and Dwyer, R. (2022) 鈥楯ob quality matters鈥� in C. Warhurst, C. Mathieu and R. Dwyer (eds) (2022) Oxford Handbook of Job Quality, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Knox, A. and Wright, S. (2022) Understanding job quality using qualitative research鈥� in C. Warhurst, C. Mathieu and R. Dwyer (eds) (2022) Oxford Handbook of Job Quality, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Warhurst, C. and S. Wright (2020) 鈥樷€� in T. Dundon and A. Wilkinson (eds) Case Studies in Work, Employment and Human Resource Management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Bosworth, D. and Warhurst, C. (2020). 鈥楧oes good work have a positive effect on productivity? Developing the evidence base鈥�. In G. Irvine (ed). (pp. 10-19).

Gauti茅, J., Ahlstrand, R., Green, A. and Wright, S. (2017). 鈥業nnovation, Job Quality and Employment Outcomes in the Aerospace Industry: Evidence from France, Sweden and the UK鈥�, in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, QuInnE Work Package 6, .

Green, A., Ill茅ssy, M., Koene, B., Mak贸, C. and Wright, S. (2017). 鈥業nnovation, Job Quality and Employment Outcomes in Care: Evidence from Hungary, the Netherlands and the UK鈥� in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, QuInnE Work Package 6, .

Keune, M., Payton, N., Been, W., Green, A., Mathieu, C., Postels, D., Rehnstr枚m, F., Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2017). 鈥業nnovation and Job Quality in the Games Industry in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK鈥� in K. Jaehrling (ed) Virtuous circles between innovations, job quality and employment in Europe? Case study evidence from the manufacturing sector, private and public service sector, QuInnE Work Package 6,

Warhurst, C., Mathieu, C. and Wright, S. (2017). 鈥樷€�, chapter in P. Oeij, D. Rus and F. Pot (editors) Workplace Innovation: Theory, Research and Practice, Berlin: Springer

Mathieu, C., Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2016) 'J鈥� and the Role of Human Resource Management鈥� in Strumi艅ska-Kutra, M.; Rok, B. (eds) Workplace innovations: Between efficiency and quality of work life), Warsaw: Poltext.

Wright, S. (2015), 鈥楥urrent challenges in researching job quality鈥� in A. Knox and C. Warhurst (eds). Job Quality: Perspectives, Problems and Proposals, Annandale, NSW, Federation Press.

Warhurst, C. and Wright, S. (2014). . In: BBVA (eds) Reinventing the Company in the Digital Age, Madrid: BBVA.

Reports

Warhurst, C., Toro, C., Harris, J., Dix. G. and Balogh, R. (2025). The case for creating healthy jobs: A review of the evidence Location and Publisher (Evidence paper). ReWAGE and 糖心TV Institute for Employment Research.

Erickson, E., Atfield, G., Balogh, R., Harris, J., and Warhurst, C. (2024). Building a business case for good jobs: The links between Good Work and innovation, productivity and employee health/wellbeing. (Evidence paper). ReWAGE and 糖心TV Institute for Employment Research. Also available: a policy brief and case studies.

Refslund, B, Larsen TP, Arnholtz J. (2023) . Procurfair - report. Uni-Europa.

Warhurst, C., Mu帽oz de Bustillo, L.R., Ant贸n P茅rez, J-I., Grande Mart铆n, R., Pinto, H. F. and Wright, S. (2019) , Dublin: Eurofound.

Wright, S., Warhurst, C., Lyonette, C. and Sarkar, S. (2018) , Report 2, London: CIPD.

Warhurst, C., Wright, S. and Lyonette, C. (2017) , Report 1, London: CIPD.

Stuart, F., Pautz, H., Crimin, S. and Wright, S. (2016) , Glasgow: Oxfam Scotland.

Stuart, F., Pautz, H., and Wright, S. (2016) , Glasgow: Oxfam Scotland.

Hurley, J., Fern谩ndez-Mac铆as, E., Ant贸n, J-I., Mu帽oz de Bustillo Llorente, R., Anxo, D., Franz, C., K眉mmerling, A., Oesch, D., Murphy, E., Grimshaw, D., Rafferty, A., Gimpelson, V., Kapeliushnikov, R., Soon Hwang, D., Warhurst, C., Wright, S., Whelan, S., Teicher, J., Yang, D., Jie, C., Xiaobo, Q., Dwyer, R., Wright, E.O. and Kambayashi, R. (2015) , Dublin: Eurofound.

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