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We would like to congratulate Dr Mariam Gbajumo- Sheriff, who has graduated from the IER Doctoral Programme and was awarded her PhD in Employment Research at the J91¸£Àû Degree Congregation in July 2017. Mariam's thesis "Does work-life balance have a cultural face: Understanding the work-life interface of Nigerian working mothers" can be viewed on the (WRAP). We wish her well on her return to her role as lecturer in the Department of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, University of Lagos.

The IER is also pleased to welcome two new full-time students, Bhaskar Chakravorty and Xiaotong Zhang onto the MPhil/PhD in Employment Research programme and our visiting student, Xue Han, who will be with us for 12 months on a British Council Newton Fund placement from the Beijing Institute of Technology.

Applications are now open for entry in October 2018. For further information see our . PhD applicants who are interested in applying for a scholarship should look at:

for overseas students which is open for applications. Closing date: 19 January 2018.
which will be open for applications shortly.

A by IER and IFF Research has been published by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) . The large-scale research has brought together the views of construction firms, employment agencies and migrant workers.

The report has revealed that a third of firms employ migrant workers, saying they have comparable skills to British workers and are more readily available. In London one in two employers say they are ‘very dependent’ on migrant workers, compared to around one in six in Yorkshire and the Humber. Some employers (22%) also said that migrants have a better work ethic. But only 1% of firms said they specifically look to recruit migrants. The research team at IER included , and .

IER has been commissioned by the Department for Education to undertake a mapping and analysis of transferable skills (such as, team working and communication) across each of the new Technical Routes proposed in the Sainsbury Panel Report and adopted in the Government's Post-16 Skills Plan.

The purpose of the study is the creation of a framework to help design the content of the new technical level qualifications.

Whilst there is much evidence on transferable skills in general, or graduate transferable skills in particular, relatively little research is available for 16-18 year olds who will be the main cohort undertaking the 15 Technical Routes. IER is taking an innovative approach, triangulating information and data from: an evidence review; occupational skills, knowledge and abilities from the O*Net database, and; transferable skills identified in apprenticeship frameworks and standards. To find out more contact .

In a series of blog posts on what the major parties have to say about their spending plans, Wales Public Services 2025 look at pledges, and what this might mean for public services in Wales. Check out 's blogs: and .

IER's Gaby Atfield, Peter Dickinson, Erika Kispeter and Sally Wright have assessed the employment policy pledges made by the UK's major parties, focusing especially on how the manifestos address poverty. The analysis is part of the Election Manifesto Poverty Audit, which is organised by the UK chapter of the international organisation Academics Stand Against Poverty. .