Showing papers by "Anne E. Green published in 2013"

Determinants of the composition of the workforce in low skilled sectors of the UK economy : Lot 2 : Qualitative research - final report

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to:  develop further understanding of whether and why demand for migrant labour persists in low skilled sectors of the UK economy; and  provide further evidence on the factors that affect the supply of labour to low skilled sectors Following an initial literature review, the study adopted a case study approach, focusing on low-skilled roles in the construction and accommodation and food services sectors in the West Midlands. It involved interviews with employers, recruitment agencies, migrant workers, British workers in low-skilled roles, British born job seekers on out-of-work benefits with no/ low qualifications and stakeholders.

D2 : Review of state of the art and mapping : crowdemploy

Abstract: A key policy concern of Member States of the EU is the need to stimulate the creation of employment as part of the 'job rich recovery'. This is happening at a time when the nature and organisation of work is changing rapidly: industry demands more flexible work organisation to maintain competitiveness; globalisation changes the supply and demand for labour; and new uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) change the practices and possibilities of work. The Internet has been a key factor in shaping paid and unpaid work over the last 15years, facilitating changes in the way that large and small business, NGOs, and the public sector access skills and labour; the nature of entrepreneurship and self-employment; the way we make employment transitions; the skill requirements of contemporary work; exclusion from work; pathways to social inclusion and social cohesion through work; and policy on welfare, labour and enterprise.

CrowdEmploy: Crowdsourcing Case Studies

Abstract: In the current economic context where a key policy emphasis is on employment, this project aims to inform policy of new forms of work and ways to enhance employability mediated by ICT. New applications of ICTs are continually changing the practices and possibilities of work: the way that tasks are executed, how they are organised; labour markets – how human capital is contracted, exploited and developed; and the ways and places that people are able and choose to work and develop their working lives. This report explores four areas of ICT-mediated work, crowdsourced labour, crowdfunding, online volunteering and internet-mediated work exchange (timebanks), that have until now been little explored. Over the last 10 years, however, they have established themselves and are growing in importance and impact. Very little research has been available that gives insights into how and why these services have been set up, how they are used, and the impact they have on people's lives. This report presents six in-depth case studies in the fields of crowdfunding, crowdsourcing for work and online work exchange systems for the exchange or recruitment of unpaid work. These cases are based on qualitative research, including long interviews with users and managers of the services, exploring why people use them, use practices, the skills required and acquired, problems and challenges.

Local worklessness policy analysis case studies

Abstract: There is an increasing emphasis on localisation and the delivery of services through local and multi agency partnerships; this report investigates the issues around undertaking policy analysis at the local level The study is based on a case study approach providing insights into experience and practice of local partnerships and bodies in three areas: Greater Manchester, Lewisham and Cornwall. This research provides local case study insights into: • the extent to which analysis is undertaken at the local level to assess local worklessness interventions; • whether and how local policy analysis is used to inform current and future interventions; • the range of ‘good practice’ in local worklessness analysis; • barriers to conducting analysis; • the nature, scope and efficacy of existing arrangements to share local analysis; and • local partners’ appetite for a ‘framework’ for the analysis of local worklessness interventions and for dissemination of findings.

Are Incapacity Benefit Claimants beyond Employment? Exploring Issues of Employability

Abstract: The period since 2008 has seen considerable changes in the global political and economic environment as a consequence of the ongoing financial crisis that originated in the USA. Within individual nations, after a long period of expansion, economic and jobs growth has slowed or even reversed, the brakes have been put on public spending, risk and uncertainty in the labour market have increased, and austerity is the watchword across Europe for the foreseeable future. Despite these developments, which have radically changed the environment for job seekers, workers, benefit claimants and policy makers alike, there have been important continuities in labour market and welfare policy. The reintegration of economically inactive people with the world of work, for example, remains a stated aim of the UK government. The target of a reduction of one million in the number of Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants by 2015 seemed ambitious (Houston and Lindsay, 2010) during the previous period of employment and economic growth, but now appears doubly challenging given surging jobless numbers. It is clear that welfare-to-work and employability policies as they now exist will face important challenges in the light of public spending reductions, a slackening of labour demand, and continued (and heightened) compulsion through the imposition of greater benefits conditionality. The pain of these developments will be borne directly by many benefit claimants but indirectly by the rest of society, which will have to cope with the consequences of a sizeable marginalised group of people.

Shifting Categories of Belonging in the United Kingdom Census: Changing Definitions of Migration, Labour-Market Access and Experience

Abstract: Boundaries are an essential part of definition. Without creating a boundary, what is being defined can never be adequately separated from ‘the rest’, and boundaries are a critical part of how we view the world and ourselves. Yet these boundaries are rarely fixed and finite. Grey areas always exist between defined categories: In geography, regions such as ‘Southern Europe’ or ‘South-east Asia’ are used to reflect fundamental human and physical divisions of the planet but a search for any precise boundary between Southern Europe and North Africa or South-east Asia and Southern China may prove elusive or contested. In the social sciences more broadly, bipolar, ideal-type models of societies and economies such as rural-urban, agricultural-industrial or developing-developed again prove difficult to divide into neat easily classifiable categories, and the idea of a continuum may be seen to provide a more satisfactory approach. However, boundaries do need to be drawn to allow for a meaningful discussion of the process as well as the delineation of the variables used to measure change.

Shifting categories of belonging in the United Kingdom census: changing definitions of migration

Abstract: Boundaries are an essential part of definition. Without creating a boundary, what is being defined can never be adequately separated from ‘the rest’, and boundaries are a critical part of how we view the world and ourselves. Yet these boundaries are rarely fixed and finite. Grey areas always exist between defined categories: In geography, regions such as ‘Southern Europe’ or ‘South-east Asia’ are used to reflect fundamental human and physical divisions of the planet but a search for any precise boundary between Southern Europe and North Africa or South-east Asia and Southern China may prove elusive or contested. In the social sciences more broadly, bipolar, ideal-type models of societies and economies such as rural-urban, agricultural-industrial or developing-developed again prove difficult to divide into neat easily classifiable categories, and the idea of a continuum may be seen to provide a more satisfactory approach. However, boundaries do need to be drawn to allow for a meaningful discussion of the process as well as the delineation of the variables used to measure change.