Chris Warhurst

Biography

As Director of IER, Chris Warhurst is motivated by wanting to see better scientific and policy-maker understanding of work and employment. He is an Associate Research Fellow of SKOPE at the Universities of Oxford and Cardiff, and co-editor of Palgrave's Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment book series associated with the Annual International Labour Process Conference. He is also a Trustee of the Tavistock Institute in London. He was previously Professor of Work and Organisational Studies at the Sydney University Business School, Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research in Glasgow and co-editor of the British Sociological Association journal Work, Employment and Society. He uses mixed methods in his research, which ranges over small-scale qualitative case studies to national surveys. He has secured over 50 research and awards from national research councils, government, employers, trade unions and charities. He has published more than a dozen books including The Skills That Matter (Palgrave), Are bad jobs inevitable? (Palgrave) and Job Quality in Australia: P)erspectives, Problems and Proposals (Federation Press). The Handbook of Skills and Training (Oxford University Press) is forthcoming. He has published around 50 academic journal articles, over 50 book chapters and more than 25 reports for government and practitioners. He has been an expert advisor to the UK (on pay, skills), Scottish (on skills, labour market issues, economic development) and Australian Governments (on skills utilisation) and was an International Expert Adviser to the OECD's LEED programme. He is currently ad adviser to Oxfam's UK decent work programme.

Research Interest

Main research interests: labour market and labour process developments, trends and issues. Interested in supervising doctorate and masters research degrees in job quality, skills and aesthetic labour.