Working Lives

Building on a long tradition of research on societal influences on the quality of working life and the consequences for employee experience and well-being.

This includes research on:

  • The labour process examining changes in skill formation and organisational control systems, new technologies (including social media) and their influence on employment relations and worker voice.
  • The labour market exploring access to work, skills and employability, and patterns of labour market exclusion with a policy-oriented focus on improving opportunities for disadvantaged groups.
  • The impact of workplace and social change on professional, occupational and other social identities; and divisions of age, gender, socio-economic status and ethnicity in access to and experiences of work.

Related staff

Professor Chris Baldry

Dr Hazel Baxter-Reid

Dr Adelina Broadbridge

Professor Sharon Bolton

Dr Knut Laaser

Professor Oliver Mallett

Dr Simon McCabe

Professor Ronald McQuaid

Dr Linda Perriton

Professor Paul Thompson

Research staff

Dr Yvonne Hail

Ms Anne Marie Cullen

Dr Danny Zschomler

Related outputs

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health

Gilmore A, Fabbri A, Baum F, Bertscher A, Bondy K, et al. (2023). Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health. The Lancet, 401(10383), 1194-1213. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00013-2

Towards a sociology of meaningful work

Laaser K & Karlsson J C (2022). Towards a sociology of meaningful work. Work, Employment and Society, 36(5), 798-815. https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170211055998

Negotiating gendered ageing: Intersectional reflexivity and experiences of incongruity of self-employed older women

Meliou E & Mallett O (2020) Negotiating gendered ageing: Intersectional reflexivity and experiences of incongruity of self-employed older women. Work, Employment and Society.

Employee dissent on social media and organizational discipline

Thompson P, McDonald P & O’Connor P (2020) Employee dissent on social media and organizational discipline. Human Relations, 73 (5), pp. 631-652. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719846262

The Moral Economy of Solidarity: A Longitudinal Study of Special Needs Teachers

Bolton SC & Laaser K (2020) The Moral Economy of Solidarity: A Longitudinal Study of Special Needs Teachers. Work, Employment and Society, 34 (1), pp. 55-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017019871237

Buying into Capitalism? Employee Ownership in a Disconnected Era

Brown R, McQuaid R, Raeside R, Dutton M, Egdell V & Canduela J (2019) Buying into Capitalism? Employee Ownership in a Disconnected Era. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 57 (1), pp. 62-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12309

Getting together, living together, thinking together: Management Development at Tata Sons 1940-1960

Masrani S, Perriton L & McKinlay A (2018) Getting together, living together, thinking together: Management Development at Tata Sons 1940-1960. Business History. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2018.1458840