Work Futures Research Group

The rapidly changing world of work remains a major topic of political and scholarly focus, and has been highlighted as an urgent concern across numerous organisations and professional bodies around the world. The Work Futures Research Group builds on and consolidates areas of strength within and beyond the School of Social Sciences at NTU, to address some of the most challenging issues these changes present.

Our expertise extends to many different sectors and dimensions of work, within Britain and internationally. The group takes a distinctive approach, in that it encompasses the wider social, economic, political, and organizational contexts in which work takes place, and connects the study of work to the development of innovative work practices and healthy workplaces.

Our members combine rigorous empirical research with detailed theoretical analysis and a strong applied focus. Our work has been published widely, cited in national and international media and has contributed to parliamentary inquiries and committees. Much of the group’s work is built on strong collaborations with external partners, including other universities, research end-users (such as trade unions, voluntary sector organisations and local authorities), and the RSA Future Work Centre.

For media enquiries, to consult the group’s expertise or to discuss possible collaborations contact the convenors by email (tom.vickers@ntu.ac.uk and david.dahill@ntu.ac.uk) or phone 0115 848 4898.

• App Drivers and Couriers Union
• Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union
• CIPD
• Technical University of Denmark
• Emmanuel House
• Grange Farm
• Greenheart
• GMB Union
• Laval University, Canada
• Lloyds Register Foundation
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
• Nottingham City Council
• Nottinghamshire Police
• Notts Police PCC
• POW Nottingham
• RSA Future Work Centre
• Sheffield Hallam University
• The Hope Projects
• The Renewal Trust
• The Sociological Review Foundation
• United Private Hire Drivers union

A selection of members' current and recent research projects includes:

• Working conditions and worker agency in e-commerce warehouses
• Decent Work and the Platform Economy: Private Hire and Hackney Drivers in Nottingham
• Widening participation graduates' experiences of career within a precarious labour market
• Exploring the existential and social dimensions of precarious work: a qualitative study of temporary agency work in the UK
• Positions of risk at work
• Caring for Capital: Capital Accumulation and the Crisis in the English Care Sector
• An international study of people entering the teaching profession, including their perceptions of work/life balance
• Reflective practice via the lens of life career and paradox: a contemplation of being and becoming a social worker
• Evaluation of Citizens at the Heart: A Citizen Centred Approach to Tackling Hate Crime
• Evaluation of Hope Project legal service
• Working while studying
• The Cinema of Precarity
• Ecologies of Labour

For other associated projects see:

Good Work Nottingham

Work, Wellbeing and Performance Research Group

Centre for People, Work and Organizational Practice

Work, Informalisation and Place Research Centre