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IER and FIER at the University of Jyv盲skyl盲 have been working on a project commissioned by the EC DG EMPL researching lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU. The team, led by Sally-Anne Barnes, organised a successful workshop in Brussels at the beginning of October to discuss the findings of the study. This event was attended by 32 experts in guidance and lifelong learning from across Europe.

Following this, the research findings were presented at the European Vocational Skills Week 2019 held in Helsinki. The interactive session on 'guidance for lifelong learning' was streamed live and debated what support was needed to promote lifelong guidance.

The research report is due to be published in 2020.

A new report, 'Family friendly working policies and practices: Motivations, influences and impacts for employers', led by IER's Professor Clare Lyonette and Beate Baldauf , and commissioned by the Government Equalities Office (), is the outcome of a series of GEO funded research projects aiming to support employers in closing the gender pay gap.

Key recommendations for employers include:

鈼� Introduce and promote a wide range of flexible working policies and practices
鈼� Disseminate good practice
鈼� Develop a positive workplace culture
鈼� Encourage transparency among managers, flexible workers and other colleagues
鈼� Trial and measure flexible working over a reasonable time period
鈼� Think in the longer-term
鈼� Challenge gendered attitudes and approaches towards flexible working.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Lyonette said:

鈥楾he link between family-friendly working policies and practices and the gender pay gap may not be immediately obvious. We highlight evidence which shows that offering and promoting flexible working to both women and men can create a positive workplace culture, benefiting both employees and employers. Ultimately this can lead to greater gender equality and a reduced pay gap but only if flexible working is not seen as a women's issue'.

The full report can be accessed and the summary report .

滨贰搁鈥檚 Chris Warhurst and Wil Hunt have a new on digitalisation and the future of work.

Going beyond the usual 鈥榙eath of jobs鈥� debate, the paper examines the work and employment implications of Industrie 4.0 and Uberisation plus the political positions being adopted on these two major developments and the likely policy responses within the European Union.

It is published by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

IER's PhD student Joanna Octavia attended the HKU-WES International Symposium on Worlds of Work: Implications of Urbanisation, Technology and Sustainability, held at the University of Hong Kong and hosted by the institution鈥檚 Faculty of Social Sciences from September 9th-11st, 2019. The symposium brought together UK, Asia, and Australia-based social science scholars to discuss and reflect on the rapidly changing dynamics and impacts of urbanisation, climate change, technological change and mass migration in the context of work.

In her presentation Joanna talked about 鈥淥nline Social Networks and Collective Action: Platform-based Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Indonesia鈥� and explored how platform-based informal workers are using internet communication tools for collective action. She presented evidence of debates on online social networks and how they are taking place within the informal sector of the developing world. She also discussed policy developments in Indonesia and whether these networks have been effective in impacting platform business decisions and regulatory change.

Initial findings suggested that following the rise of the platform business models, nascent forms of online social networks have emerged among some groups of informal workers in developing countries. Recent trends in platform-based informal work show that online social networks, such as social media platforms and instant messaging applications, enable workers to share worker-generated content via messages, images and videos, and that other workers are able to relate to those. There is also evidence that the networks are starting to be perceived as a legitimate form of worker representation by some stakeholders.

Joanna鈥檚 participation in the symposium was generously supported by the Early Career Researcher funding from the British Sociological Association and the Work, Employment and Society Journal.

In August, the Director of IER, Chris Warhurst, was invited to present at a Scottish Enterprise Masterclass in Aberdeen, organised by Workplace Innovation Europe.

The topic of the presentation was 鈥楨ngaging Employees in Innovation鈥� and it was based on 滨贰搁鈥檚 recently completed QuInnE Horizon 2020 project examining job quality, innovation and employment outcomes.