Women in Agriculture : Approaches to Implementing Equality Commitments

Main findings from an evidence review and case-study research carried out to explore effective ways of bringing about greater gender equality within Scottish agricultural businesses. The research was designed to gather evidence on gender equality initiatives and their effectiveness within business of different sizes in male-dominated industries

CIPD Good Work Index 2021 : UK Working Lives Survey

The CIPD Good Work Index is an annual benchmark of good work or job quality in the UK. It measures a wide range of aspects of job quality, including employment essentials, such as pay and contracts, the day-to-day realities of work as experienced by workers themselves, and the impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. This survey report is based on the fourth annual UK Working Lives survey, which draws on a representative sample of UK workers. The CIPD Good Work Index measures a wide range of aspects of job quality, including employment essentials, such as pay and contracts, the day-to-day realities of work as experienced by workers themselves, and the impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. This year’s survey was conducted nearly 12 months on from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and gives a snapshot of the experiences of workers during this time. Since the last full annual survey, the global economy has experienced its greatest shock in over a generation. Alongside a major contraction in economic activity, the COVID-19 crisis has ushered in an unprecedented policy response. Cumulatively, the UK Government’s furlough scheme – the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) – has supported over 11 million jobs since its launch in March 2020. This survey offers important insights into workers’ experiences during this crisis – including those on furlough and those working from home. The report also examines the extent to which the experiences of those deemed to be key workers during this crisis has differed from that of the general workforce

A practical perspective on the potential of rechargeable Mg batteries

Emerging energy storage systems based on abundant and cost-effective materials are key to overcome the global energy and climate crisis of the 21st century. Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries (RMB), based on Earth-abundant magnesium, can provide a cheap and environmentally responsible alternative to the benchmark Li-ion technology, especially for large energy storage applications. Currently, RMB technology is the subject of intense research efforts at laboratory scale. However, these emerging approaches must be placed in a real-world perspective to ensure that they satisfy key technological requirements. In an attempt to bridge the gap between laboratory advancements and industrial development demands, herein, we report the first non-aqueous multilayer RMB pouch cell prototypes and propose a roadmap for a new advanced RMB chemistry. Through this work, we aim to show the great unrealized potential of RMBs.This work was funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the FET Proactive call with grant agreement no 824066 via the “E-MAGIC” project

A practical perspective on the potential of rechargeable Mg batteries

Emerging energy storage systems based on abundant and cost-effective materials are key to overcome the global energy and climate crisis of the 21st century. Rechargeable Magnesium Batteries (RMB), based on Earth-abundant magnesium, can provide a cheap and environmentally responsible alternative to the benchmark Li-ion technology, especially for large energy storage applications. Currently, RMB technology is the subject of intense research efforts at laboratory scale. However, these emerging approaches must be placed in a real-world perspective to ensure that they satisfy key technological requirements. In an attempt to bridge the gap between laboratory advancements and industrial development demands, herein, we report the first non-aqueous multilayer RMB pouch cell prototypes and propose a roadmap for a new advanced RMB chemistry. Through this work, we aim to show the great unrealized potential of RMBs

More than a feeling : using hotel room attendants to improve understanding of job quality

Recent research by Adler and Adler reveals contradictory claims about the job quality of hotel room attendants; suggesting that an objectively ‘bad’ job can be perceived as subjectively ‘good’ by workers. This contradiction resonates with wider issues about how job quality is conceived – objectively and/or subjectively. Drawing on empirical research of room attendant jobs in upper market hotels in three cities in the UK and Australia, this paper addresses the contradiction by examining both the objective and subjective dimensions of job quality for room attendants. In doing so it refines Adler and Adler's work, constructs a new typology of workers and a new categorisation of job quality informed by workers characteristics and preferences. This categorisation improves conceptual understanding of job quality by enjoining its objective and subjective dimensions

The weakest link? Product market strategies, skill and pay in the hotel industry

is a widely held assumption that product market strategies, skill and pay are linked. Supportive evidence is typically drawn from manufacturing and using quantitative analyses. Emergent research of the link in services is ambivalent and has methodological limitations. This article addresses this weakness. It compares the skills and pay of room attendants in upper and mid-market hotels using qualitative research. It finds that the link is weak, even decoupled. The findings suggest a reconceptualization is needed of the link in services and that interventions other than product market re-positioning are needed to deliver higher skills and better pay

Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?

Previous research in the area of 'aesthetic labour' has suggested that 'aesthetic skills' are important in interactive service work, such as retail and hospitality. To-date, research on aesthetic labour has merely pointed to the existence of aesthetic skills, but there has been no real attempt to examine the extent of the demand for such skills. This paper seeks to rectify this omission. It reports on a survey undertaken in the Glasgow retail and hospitality labour markets by examining labour demand in terms of recruitment and selection, skills and training. The findings point to a high level of demand for aesthetic skills in retail and hospitality. Pursuant on this identification of the demand for such skills we consider apposite policy responses, suggesting that there is increasingly a need for a reappraisal of skills in the current, service-dominated economy

Aesthetic labour and the policy-making agenda: time for a reappraisal of skills?: SKOPE Research Paper No. 48, Summer 2004

Previous research in the area of 'aesthetic labour' has suggested that 'aesthetic skills' are important in interactive service work, such as retail and hospitality. To-date, research on aesthetic labour has merely pointed to the existence of aesthetic skills, but there has been no real attempt to examine the extent of the demand for such skills. This paper seeks to rectify this omission. It reports on a survey undertaken in the Glasgow retail and hospitality labour markets by examining labour demand in terms of recruitment and selection, skills and training. The findings point to a high level of demand for aesthetic skills in retail and hospitality. Pursuant on this identification of the demand for such skills we consider apposite policy responses, suggesting that there is increasingly a need for a reappraisal of skills in the current, service-dominated economy