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Melanie Simms

@melaniesimms.bsky.social
2.5K followers 2.1K following 910 posts

Professor of Work and Employment. Specialism in unions and worker voice. Promoter of social sciences. Fascinated by pretty much everything. She/her

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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Linda Yueh @lindayueh.bsky.social · 18h
AI does not act on jobs. It acts on tasks, and a job is a bundle of heterogeneous ones. Ask how much AI speeds up a lawyer and the question has no answer: AI drafts a brief in minutes but does nothing for a court appearance. cepr.org/voxeu/column...
cepr.org
Hiding in the mean: AI is adding jobs and removing them at the same time
Estimates of AI's employment effect disagree in size and even in sign. This column argues the disagreement is built into the measurement: AI substitutes for humans on some tasks and complements humans...
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
'Green' and 'class' politics are often viewed as mutually hostile to each other. My research explores how British miners, electricity workers and builders articulated a distinctive working-class environmental politics in the 1970s and 80s. You can read my new article here.
tandfonline.com
‘The true conservationists’: British trade union environmental politics in the late twentieth century
This article demonstrates British energy trade unionists engaged intently with environmental debates during the 1970s and 1980s. These findings challenge dominant interpretations of the emergence o...
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I have also had this problem this week.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
4 Day Week Foundation @4dayweek.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We all know South Cambs District Council's 4-day week works. What Local Authority Leaders need to know now is: How did they do it? What was the impact? and How can we do it too? To answer those questions, we’ve condensed all the key data into one brand-new, easy-to-read document. Read it below ⬇️
South Cambridge District Council's Shift to a Four-Day Week:
Evidence, Outcomes and Lessons for Local Government
Prof Brendan Burchell, University of Cambridge Prof Daiga Kamerade, University of Salford
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Understanding what’s happening at Dundee takes a good working knowledge of HE finances. But I strongly recommend that if you work in the sector, you gen up fast. It’ll resonate beyond Scotland. www.theferret.scot/dundee-unive...
theferret.scot
Dundee university might have too much cash to qualify for its taxpayer bailout
The university has continued to argue staff cuts are needed to make ends meet. But a growing cash balance has raised questions about the need for more redundancies, and whether it qualifies for millio...
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is one of the many reasons we shouldn’t share research data with corporate AI. We still need to find out exactly what happened - although we may never do. But it’s one of a million reasons why I wouldn’t. Data protection matters. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/s...
nytimes.com
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own?
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Added to which, the replacement of human labour with technology has to be viable in capitalism. And at the moment, no CFO in the world has a reasonable clue what they might be charged for any of this in, say, 3 years time.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
LSE Review of Books @lsereviewofbooks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NEW: Debt and the Future of Workers by @ggouzoulis.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social @brisunipress.bsky.social examines how household debt forms an essential part of the capitalist exploitation process. Read the review by Photis Lysandrou 👉 blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofb...
Book cover titled Debt and the Future of Workers — Financialization as Exploitation in the 21st Century by Giorgos Gouzoulis, depicting bundled US dollar bills on a blue spiked mousetrap against a red background to symbolize debt as a trap for workers.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
One of the most stunning details about the OpenAI attack on Australian medical data is not so much that it was reported 3 months late. But that it was reported to a public mailbox.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Alex Bryson @alexbryson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Come and join us for this BJIR special issue conference in memory of David Metcalf cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/events/... @sriucl.bsky.social @bjireditor.bsky.social @cep-lse.bsky.social
cep.lse.ac.uk
BJIR Conference in Memory of Professor Sir David Metcalf | Various speakers | Thursday Thursday, December 3, 2026 - Friday Friday, December 4, 2026 | CEP Event
An event from the CEP Public Events series organised by the CEP
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
You can get 20% off my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, from bookshop.org and help support independent bookshops!
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I know we’re now all waiting for this plane to land wherever it lands!
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I grew up on the South coast. The people who make up the RNIL crews were my classmates. I share few politics with them. But our (very not fancy, recently Secondary Modern) school had a Latin motto. Ut prosim. That I may be of service. What is “service”? I can’t think of better than the RNLI 1/2
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I don’t self-identify as a gamer. But I really am. And Wolfenstein (the original). Played it all the way thru. And the final boss nearly gave me a heart attack!
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) hosts a conference on Workers and Technological Change 10-11 December. Submit by 16 October. Open to "historians, economists, sociologists, political scientists and scholars of industrial relations" www.torch.ox.ac.uk/event/call-f...
torch.ox.ac.uk
Call for Papers | Workers and Technological Change
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
OK - so he pronounces his own name Mack-le-more. (Very soft le). I think the least we can do is swap to saying it like that. Every days a school day. (You all probably knew this already).
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Not long now till this conference we are supporting on the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. 8/9 October in Edinburgh. Register here www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/briti...
thebritishacademy.ac.uk
The Wealth of Nations at 250: understanding prosperity and development in the modern world
What makes nations wealthy? This question, first systematically explored by Adam Smith 250 years ago, remains as pressing today as it was in 1776 when Smith published An Inquiry into the Nature and Ca...
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Um… even as a middle aged white woman from the UK, I can read the horrific US Converse ad. Do they think the rest of the world isn’t watching?
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Yup. I love the analogous of a strimmer (weed whacker as I believe our US cousins call them) tied to a dog. For a while, it might do what you want. But sooner or later, it’ll jump the fence to run after a squirrel.
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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Applications are now open for the Elevate Programme, a professional development programme supporting early career researchers across the UK. Activities are delivered through a mix of online and in-person sessions. Applications open until 28 October. Find out more: bit.ly/4wOVF5V
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Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
4-year postdoc at @wzb.bsky.social in the research group Globalization, Work and Production led by @martinkrz.bsky.social. Start: January 2027. Deadline: 30 September. wzb.eu/en/jobs/post...
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Im in my “furious and intentional” era - I might start saying this.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I did an internship in Japan 30+ years ago. And discovered the first food I really didn’t like - natto. Try it. Probably only once. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. www.theguardian.com/food/2026/se...
theguardian.com
It’s a superfood but natto as we know it. Japan’s slimy fermented beans are coming your way
Comprised of smelly soya beans held together by strands of mucus, the ancient dish is appearing in health food shops across the world
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (MPIfG) @mpifg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🚨 Call for Applications: Postdocs We’re looking for postdoctoral researchers for the following research areas and topics: - Political Economy - Economic Sociology - Technology and Statehood - Wealth and Social Inequality 🗓️ Application deadline: Dec. 11 📢 Please share widely! s.gwdg.de/UzLEpr
Job Opening: Postdoctoral Researchers. Application Deadline: Dec. 11, 2026
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
4-year postdoc(s) at Copenhagen Business School on project The Business of Corruption: Why Business Elites Collude or Combat Political Corruption, led by @mkjustesen.bsky.social. Start: summer 2027, deadline 18 September. www.cbs.dk/en/about-cbs...
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The future of work will not be decided by the fetishisation of the new. Under capitalism, labour and capital are in constant tension with each other. The future is decided by those negotiations. Implicit and explicit.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
If you're a union member in the UK, you will soon be asked for your personal email address (not work). This is REALLY IMPORTANT. It seems like one of those tasks that isn't urgent. But PLEASE DO IT. If you want to take part in a future electronic ballot they MUST have your personal address.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I’ve had this with something as simple iMessage autocorrect. It’s the AI messing things up.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This is a brilliant podcast. And I think most people will find this episode incredibly reassuring (about the models - we still have to be out of our minds with worry about the techbros).
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I am reminded once again that even at this ripe age, when I get a meeting request that includes “update on progress”, I default to assuming they want an update from me. Even when I am waiting for THEM to make progress. You call it Type A. I call it childhood trauma!
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
From a bit of googling, this appears to be true. I’m so gobsmacked that I don’t know what to do except repost.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I research work and employment - with a particular interest in worker power. I have never knowingly heard or read the term “Saint Monday”. Now I have and I love it. Every day is a school day.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is why my own research on young people’s transitions to the labour market doesn’t work with yp at all. Uunderstanding employer behaviour is more important.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Sam Rutherford (he/him) @echomikeromeo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The window of my local queer bookshop was smashed last week. They're fundraising to install shutters so they can keep themselves and their community safe. Support this one-of-a-kind place, its one-of-a-kind proprietors, and the whole Glasgow queer & trans community: www.gofundme.com/f/categoryis...
gofundme.com
Donate to Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!, organized by Category Is Books
For the past eight years, Category Is Books has been able to comfortably oper… Category Is Books needs your support for Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
For the 10th time this week I’m asked “What do you think of AI”. It would be a lot easier question to answer if the tech bros weren’t so damned hubristic! And it they weren’t burning capital at a rate that I’ve never seen before.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
LSE Impact @lseimpactblog.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
👀ICYMI | "The rise of challenge-led research leadership reflects a fundamental shift in how complex societal challenges are addressed, moving away from traditional leadership approaches toward more collaborative, adaptive, and purpose-driven models" #ResearchImpact #AcademicSky
blogs.lse.ac.uk
What does it take to lead challenge-led research? - LSE Impact
Research is often designed to be mission or challenge-led, but what does it take to be successful & what skills are required from emerging "mission managers".
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This week makes it a YEAR AND FOUR MONTHS since the UK had a permanent National Statistician. Surely an important role to help provide data for the Government’s regional and growth agendas, to nail labour force data, and to ensure preparation for the next census? Let’s hope this gets resolved soon
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Today I learned that Buzzballs are quite nice.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
7 tough miles in the Lake District. Ending with heavy rain. Got to the pub wet and muddy - and inhaled a plate of chicken wings. To the visible horror of the man sitting at the next table. 😂
Photo of a view over Ullswater with sun but looming rain clouds.
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Dr Hannah J. Elizabeth @sexhistorian.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
We're looking for a fabulous person to join us @strathclydehass.bsky.social on a funded PhD with me & Prof Matt Smith. Are you a historian with an interest in activism who wants to design a cool project on unorthodox health movements in Britain after 1948? Apply! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSR502/p...
jobs.ac.uk
PhD Studentship: Unorthodox health activism in Britain after 1948 at University of Strathclyde
Apply for a PhD Studentship: Unorthodox health activism in Britain after 1948. Discover a wide range of PhD opportunities at jobs.ac.uk.
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Reposted by Melanie Simms
Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 31/08/2026
Solo working, not just screen time, has driven the surge in time young adults spend alone More in our latest research ➡️ buff.ly/v7pfxOa
Infographic panel stating 18–29‑year‑olds are spending more time alone, reporting diary data that young men spent six and a half waking hours a day alone in 2023 and young women spent an extra one and a half hours (about five hours total).Young adults feel lonelier than older adults: 14% said they felt lonely all the time—twice the rate of 60–69‑year‑olds—and young people in poor health spent three more hours a day alone in 2023 than in 2014–15.Infographic panel saying surging screen time is linked to increased loneliness — young people almost always online were 4 percentage points more likely to be lonely (16% vs. 12%), with a smartphone projecting a glowing network brain.Panel 4 of an infographic arguing working alone is increasingly important: paid work drove most of the rise in time spent alone, and work should be included in debates about young people’s wellbeing alongside screen time.
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Alex Press @alexnpress.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I profiled Kate Bronfenbrenner, who retired from Cornell this year after decades of research that has shaped how generations of organizers understand employer opposition and what it takes to win a union.
jacobin.com
Kate Bronfenbrenner, the Union Organizer’s Scholar
Kate Bronfenbrenner, who retired this year from Cornell University, has studied how workers win unions, how employers stop them, and how organizers can learn from one another for four decades. Her fin...
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Charlie Lynch @charlielynch.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Let’s try again: I’d like to hear about new research from Scottish historians. Especially ECRs whose work may not get much attention. This is because I have a newspaper column where I publicise new work by Scottish historians! Tell me about your research!
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
If you’re ready to brace yourselves, this is an excellent paper on the funding problems of Scottish Higher Education. The issues are similar across the UK. If you work in HE, you probably need to know this stuff because we are going to have to fight for it - together. cdn.sanity.io/files/rao5hx...
cdn.sanity.io
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I need to find out more about Tim Curry. You guys all adore him. That’s enough of a recommendation. Where should I start?
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Yes - and in addition - I’m never entirely clear in UBI discourse 1) how people imagine the state having enough money to keep its populations alive without taxing capital and 2) why any such system is different than social security (as a concept - not as SS exists in any single national context).
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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026
[Exit Queen.]
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Charlie Ball @lmicharlie.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Adzuna reported their best graduate vacancy data was in 2017, but the actual UK graduate labour market has been stronger in several years since then, most notably in the years post-COVID (it is complicated by the fact we changed the way the official stats are measured after 2017)
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Kim Kelly @kimkelly.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
My latest for @teenvogue.com pays tribute to all the teenage girls who built the American house of labor www.teenvogue.com/story/teens-...
teenvogue.com
Teens Have Always Been on the Front Lines of the Labor Movement
For a century, teens have proved time and time again that they are the future.
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Melanie Simms @melaniesimms.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
No one tells you that the weirdest bit of moving to Scotland is mid August. What do you mean the rest of the world is on holiday? Why are there “summer specials”? It’s back to school autumn nip in the air here.
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