How can local government shape the future of work in deindustrialised regions?
Local government can play an important role in shaping and supporting regional labour markets to benefit their communities. So should they be doing more to address the quality of local jobs in the face of rapid technological change?
In this Digit Debates event, Abbie Winton, Charles Umney and Gabriella Alberti, will present evidence from a study exploring work in the rapidly growing Yorkshire warehousing industry. Nationally, the number of people working in the sector has grown by 81% across the decade and, in some Yorkshire towns, this type of work now accounts for up to 8.5% of local jobs. However, their research highlights concerns that despite this growth, advances in technology may ultimately lead to job automation, increased surveillance, control, and deskilling.
Surprisingly, there has been little discussion about the role of local government in addressing the challenges arising from the digital transformation of work. Yet in the UK, they play a key role in shaping our local labour markets as well-connected anchor institutions that retain significant influence. In a new Digit Policy Brief, the research team make recommendations for how local policymakers can do more: making use of tools already at their disposal to proactively address issues arising from the digitalisation of work and better support local communities.
Our research team will be joined by an expert panel to discuss devolution, industrial strategy and local economic growth – and the practical, policy mechanisms through which job quality can be improved in a context of technological change.
Bios
Abbie Winton is a Digit Research Fellow based at the University of Leeds. As part of her work on Digit, Abbie works on issues related to the future of work and sociotechnical change at the regional level, with a particular focus on the local ecosystems which influence tech adoption and industrial strategy. Recently, Abbie has also worked on the UKRI-funded project Humans in Digital Logistics, which sought to understand how digital technologies have shaped work and employment conditions in warehouses across Europe.
Charles Umney is Professor of International Work and Employment at Leeds University Business School. His research focuses on the relationship between markets, technology and work. He is interested in how market dynamics shape technological trajectories and workplace power dynamics. Currently, he is most focused on the use of digital technologies in warehousing work, and worker protest in the platform economy via the Leeds Index of Platform Labour Protest. He is the co-author of Marketization (with Ian Greer), which examines the political economy of marketization, class, and democratic institutions across Europe.
Gabriella Alberti is Professor of Internal Labour Migration at the University of Leeds Business School, People Work and Employment Department. Member of the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change , she is also the co- founder of the Leeds Migration Research Network, which brings together researchers and practitioners in the region and globally to promote interdisciplinary collaborations and impact-oriented research on international migration and minoritised groups.
Dr Tim Page is Founding Director of Industrial Paradigm, a consultancy that offers bespoke economic research and facilitates workshops for companies, trade unions, trade associations and charities. Tim is also a part-time Policy Advisor with Advanced Oxford, a group of senior leaders from knowledge-intensive businesses who are working to support the long-term development of the Oxford region as a place to work and live. Tim worked for sixteen years as a Senior Policy Officer for the Trades Union Congress, where he specialised in industrial policy, energy and climate change policy, and science and innovation policy. Tim worked with Rachel Reeves MP on the production of her pamphlet, ‘The Everyday Economy’, in 2018, and with Lord Michael Heseltine on his report, ‘No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth’, in 2012. Tim served on the UK Government’s Manufacturing Forum and on the European Union’s Macroeconomic Dialogue.