News & Press

In November 2012, IES held its annual policy conference at the Commonwealth Club in London. The focus of the conference was the value of higher education (HE), and it brought together a range of stakeholders from universities, colleges, HE bodies, government agencies, employers, think-tanks and research organisations to explore ‘value’ from a range of perspectives.

The Work Programme is a new, integrated welfare-to-work programme, which was implemented across Great Britain in June 2011. It is commissioned through private and voluntary sector contractors and is designed to provide support to long-term unemployed and inactive people to assist them to gain work.

In the current difficult labour market climate, finding a job can feel like a major achievement, even if it is on a temporary or fixed-term basis. There is a view that entering the labour market through the medium of temporary employment can give individuals valuable work experience, leading to more stable, open-ended employment in the future.

One feature of recent UK employment which has attracted attention, but has yet to be fully explained is the growth in self-employment. In 2011, it hit a ‘record’ level of four million and politicians have been quick to hail this as a harbinger of David Cameron’s ‘age of the entrepreneur’. Should this trend be seen as a fundamental change of workforce culture towards Dragon’s Denstyle entrepreneurship, helping offset the impact of austerity in the public sector? It’s too early to be sure, but there are good reasons for scepticism.

Resolving workplace disputes quickly and efficiently is likely to be a priority for all organisations. However, the way in which managers go about this can differ significantly - some may prefer to use in-house resources and tools in order to settle disputes, whereas others may feel that turning to external expertise gets the best results.