iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Today’s stats paint a picture of a weakening labour market. Unemployment is rising (4.6%), vacancies are falling, and more people are returning to the labour market—often out of necessity, not opportunity. This should be a red flag ahead of tomorrow’s Spending Review. 🧵(1/6)

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Sharon Wright @profsharonwright.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Spread the word! Exciting new fully funded PhD opportunity to research disabled people's lived experiences of benefit reform and the costs of disability. Deadline: 10 April @uofglasgow.bsky.social @uofgussp.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social @sgsss.bsky.social @clemmiehilloconnor.bsky.social

https://www.sgsss.ac.uk/studentship/disabled-peoples-lived-experiences-of-benefit-reform-and-the-costs-of-disability/
ESRC-funded Supervisor-led Studentship
Disabled People's Lived Experiences of Benefit Reform and the Costs of Disability
University of Glasgow
Supervisors: Professor Sharon Wright, Professor Charlotte Pearson, Dr Clementine Hill O'Connor
Deadline 10 April, 5pm BST
References due 16 April, 5pm BST
To apply go to apply.sgsss.ac.uk
Picture of historic stone Glasgow University building with green grass, trees and sunshine.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Great to see our @irhws.bsky.social findings covered in @thetimes.com over the weekend, in this article exploring five years of remote and hybrid working since the pandemic (well worth a full read, despite the depressingly cynical picture accompanying it).

thetimes.com

Five years of the WFH experiment: is it working?

After half a decade of ‘you’re on mute’, are we all about to be hauled back to our office desks full-time? Matt Rudd reports

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Remote and hybrid working is generally experienced as beneficial by disabled workers but there is unequal access to support, understanding and the right type of flexibility.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Despite increasing demand for remote and hybrid roles, there is an advertising gap, with only one in 26 vacancies (3.8%) on the Department for Work and Pensions Find a Job portal including an option for such work.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Nearly one in three disabled workers (30%) who are already working in a hybrid way want to spend more of their work time working at home.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

There is high demand for remote and hybrid working to manage health conditions and impairments, with 85% of disabled workers reporting that access to remote and hybrid work is essential or very important when looking for a new job.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Working from home had a positive impact on 80% of those in fully remote roles when it came to managing their health. This proportion reduces to 38% for those who work remotely less than half of the time, suggesting that the benefits decline if people are expected to work onsite very regularly.

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Great to see support for the proposed Employment Rights Bill across the political spectrum, with nearly 3 in 4 in support of banning zero hours contracts, widening access to Statutory Sick Pay and granting employment rights from day one. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

theguardian.com

Labour urged to defend workers’ rights bill as poll shows huge public support

Exclusive: Poll reveals 72% of UK voters favour ban on zero-hours contracts, including majority of Tory and Reform supporters

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Shows that zero-hours can be a very permanent state, with some people stuck in this for years not knowing how many hours/wages they'll get week to week.

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Costly sticking plaster with ONS hiring temp staff to try and improve reliability of Labour Force Survey. For a longer term fix, why not make responding to the survey mandatory, like in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany etc. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

theguardian.com

ONS to spend millions on temp workers to fix ‘unusable’ UK employment data

Exclusive: Office for National Statistics to spend £8m in deal with employment agency Randstad to recruit hires

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Full report: timewise.co.uk/wp-content/u...

timewise.co.uk

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Good to see @timewise.bsky.social in the news today highlighting flexible working inequalities. A key takeaway for me is the business case for supporting workers to find a better work-life balance, particularly when it comes to recruitment and retention. See below for a link to the full report 👇

theguardian.com

Inequality in flexible working dividing Britain into ‘two-tier workforce’

Exclusive: Office workers have more flexibility than frontline staff such as nurses and shop workers, report says

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

A great 🧵here from @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social on the need for more actual evidence and research across the back-to-office debate, rather than the "gut feelings" of individuals 👇

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

A great read showing how difficult it is for workers on UC to take on more hours. "The reality is that most low-paid workers are within the scope of Income Tax and National Insurance and so their effective deduction rate is 68 per cent." On min wage, this means people are left with £3.71 per hour.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Now that the @irhws.bsky.social is coming to an end, I'm happy to say that from next week I'll be beginning a new role as a Senior Policy Adviser at Acas: exciting times! I'll miss academia, but also looking forward to the chance to enact positive change from the inside, for a change 👀

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

And the final report of the project can be read in full at:

nuffieldfoundation.org

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Full details of the geographical analysis of the project can be found in a working paper available at:

nuffieldfoundation.org

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

This report is part of an extensive exploration of the disability employment gap in the UK by Mark Bryan, Andrew Bryce, Jennifer Roberts and Cristina Sechel of the University of Sheffield (funded by the @nuffieldfoundation.org):

nuffieldfoundation.org

Unpacking the disability employment gap - Nuffield Foundation

Nuffield Foundation research is investigating what contributes to the longstanding disability employment gap in the UK.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Important New Year reading here, with this final report of a project exploring regional differences in the disability employment gap. Results show strong correlation between the size of the DEG and levels of economic deprivation across an area: well worth a deep dive into the data (see👇for more).

sheffield.ac.uk

New research reveals where in Great Britain people with a disability find it hardest to be in employment

The five areas in Great Britain where disabled people are least likely to be in employment compared with non-disabled people have been revealed in a new report from the University of Sheffield.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Had a great time on Friday filming for the first stage of production on our @irhws.bsky.social film 📽️ The idea is to give disabled workers a chance to talk about their remote & hybrid working experiences in their own words. Watch this space for the final product in the spring!

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Kat Smith @profkatsmith.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Two new research jobs with a health inequalities focus currently being advertised at Strathclyde @centrehealthpolicy.bsky.social - both would suit qualitative researchers who like working in large, cross-disciplinary teams, who also enjoy community engagement and policy engagement. Thread 1/3

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

A number of issues at play here, from the penalising nature of the current benefits system (e.g. suspending payments for anyone suspected of fraud), to the adoption of AI without a clear understanding of issues of bias, and to the need for greater oversight for how AI is used for policy more widely.

theguardian.com

Revealed: bias found in AI system used to detect UK benefits fraud

Exclusive: Age, disability, marital status and nationality influence decisions to investigate claims, prompting fears of ‘hurt first, fix later’ approach

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

This speaks to today's report from the Work Foundation exploring the linkages between job quality and ill health (link below), as well as our findings for the @irhws.bsky.social project about the need for inclusive flexible working models to retain people with disabilities/ill health in employment.

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Karen Barker @karenmbarker.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Our Trustee, Kate Bell, says when considering trade offs between improving employment rights and costs to employers, we can’t just focus on short term adjustment costs. We need to take a long view of how we want our labour market to grow and evolve.

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Nick Davies @njdavies.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

So how did the Plan for Change do? Good news is it contains plausible theories of change for how the targets will be met and, in some cases, how these will contribute towards overall missons. BUT the targets are v ambitious given tight budgets and will inevitably mean loss of focus on wider goals

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Thread from the brilliant @asliatay.bsky.social below highlighting some of the report's key findings 👇

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Great to see this report published today by my project colleagues at the Work Foundation on the need to improve job quality to more effectively tackle economic inactivity across the UK. Access to flexible working models and concerted employer support at the onset of ill health considered crucial 👀

lancaster.ac.uk

Stemming the tide: Healthier jobs to tackle economic inactivity - Lancaster University

New Work Foundation research aims to provide new evidence, insights and policy direction for how Government and employers can work together to retain more people who experience health issues in employ...

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Great to be in London yesterday for the 2024 Early Career Network Day at @nuffieldfoundation.org HQ: as a funder they are putting a lot of effort into helping to support ECRs looking to pursue academic careers within an extremely precarious sector, so great to see these efforts continue.

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JJ Reeder @jjs.business · 26/11/2024

Future of Work starter pack is live! Filled with people who are active on Bluesky and have enough expertise in the field that I personally want to read their posts 😎 go.bsky.app/4nEu3PY I surely missed people. Please tag anyone who belongs here! #futureofwork #remotework

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Would love to be added too, Ellen!

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Ellen Stewart @profellenstu.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Had a first go at creating a starter pack for social policy research. I’m new here and have surely missed lots so please say if you’d like added or removed!

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Lots of helpful detail here on the Get Britain Working white paper: youth guarantee, localised employment support pilots, less of the tick box in jobcentres and more personalised focus. 🧵 1/3 www.personneltoday.com/hr/get-brita...

personneltoday.com

Get Britain Working: DWP unveils employment support reforms

Government unveils biggest reforms to employment support for a generation with the publication of its Get Britain Working white paper.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

I wish they took the ONS 7am approach!

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Absolutely bizarre "reasoning" by them here (and every other time): always irritates me how the right always try and act like employers are of a hive mind and all think like them, too!

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

A brilliant exploration here from my colleague @asliatay.bsky.social on the inequalities concerning who has access to flexible working models in 2024, and the need for bolder action in expanding the right to flexibility to millions more workers across the UK: well worth a read.

asliatay.substack.com

Working From Home Was Supposed to Be the Big Revolution. The numbers tell a different story

The hybrid work dream and who gets to live it

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Asli Atay @asliatay.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Great report from #HealthierWorkingLives Commission on the link between poor job quality and workforce health: ✔️Job insecurity harms wellbeing ✔️Excessive/irregular hours predict ill health ✔️Lack of control leads to poor outcomes ✔️Adverse behaviours severely impact wellbeing

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Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Really good to see this emphasis placed by the Health Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives on job insecurity as one of the key drivers of poor health in our ailing labour market. Not only are people falling sick, bad job qual and insecurity can also drive them out of work entirely.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Incredibly important new report out today from the @employmentstudies.bsky.social's Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives: a lot to dig into, and absolutely damning about the extent of insecure work in the UK, and the health impacts on the lives of millions of workers across the country.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Some fascinating findings emerging from @benbgeiger.bsky.social & team's FlexPlus project (details of study below), particularly around the need for employers and job design considerations to be a key part of exploring how to help people with disabilities thrive in the workplace: well worth a read 👀

kcl.ac.uk

Can flexible job design help people with fluctuating disabilities?

In this blog piece, Catherine Hale outlines the early findings of a new study exploring the flexible working practices in the post-COVID era and their impact on disability employment outcomes.

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Asli Atay @asliatay.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Hello, I put together a starter pack for employment policy wonks since I couldn’t find one before! Let me know if I missed anyone or if you’d like to be added. 🔗https://go.bsky.app/4U7rFk8

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