Working from home during the lockdown has provided global economies with an imperfect indicator of how jobs could be performed differently, and potentially more effectively.

Our findings will shape how work is organised in the future, following the disruption of lockdown. As we move through the next phases of the pandemic our research is designed to support economic and social recovery , providing timely practical guidance and recommendations for employers and policy makers. It explores how the pandemic has influenced two different UK sectors, professional services and public administration, analyses the longer-term effects of working from home, and looks at which new behaviours and working practices will remain, and which should be encouraged.

We will share our findings throughout the course of our eighteen month research offering regular webinars and insight briefings.

 

Meet the team...

 
Portrait of Doctor Jane Parry

Dr Jane Parry

Role: Principal investigator
Position: Associate Professor in Work and Employment, Southampton Business School, University of Southampton

Dr Parry has worked in applied policy research since 2000 working with government departments focusing on the changing world of work and workforce inequalities. Her research interests include flexible working and age friendly workplaces and how to secure greater job freedom through digital working. 

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Portrait of Professor Stephen Bevan

Professor Stephen Bevan

Role: Co-investigator
Position:
Head of Human Resources Research Development, Institute for Employment Studies 

Stephen has a special research interest in workforce health and wellbeing and has led a number of projects looking at the impact of chronic illness on productivity and social inclusion. The IES has been surveying people working from home since the start of lockdown which will provide rich data on how they manage and are managed as organisations pivot towards economic recovery.

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Portrait of Doctor Zoe Young

Dr Zoe Young

Role: Co-investigator
Position:
Consulting Sociologist and Director, Half the Sky 

Dr Young is the founder and director of work design consultancy Half the Sky. She is an applied sociologist and consultant to large complex organisations advising on flexible working and inclusion strategies. Her research interests include work design for equality, productivity and work-life flexibility, and the gender impacts of employment policies and workplace practices.

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Portrait of Professor Yehuda Baruch

Professor Yehuda Baruch

Role: Co-investigator
Position: Professor of Management

Professor Baruch combines his academic teaching with a research interest in human resources management and careers. He has been publishing on the organisational management of homeworking for 20 years. He is a former associate editor of the publication Human Resource Management.

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Portrait of Doctor Mina Beigi

Dr Mina Beigi

Role: Co-investigator
Position:
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Co-director of the Work Futures Research Centre 

Dr Beigi’s research focuses on work-life balance, career success, and understudied careers. Using in-depth qualitative methodologies, she examines the role of context in how individuals navigate their careers and combine personal and professional lives. She is an associate editor of the Human Relations Journal. 

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Portrait of Doctor Michail Veliziotis

Dr Michail Veliziotis

Role: Co-investigator
Position:
Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Co-director of the Work Futures Research Centre

 Dr Veliziotis is an employment studies scholar working mainly with large-scale survey data to investigate research topics related to HRM practices, labour market institutions, and employee well-being.

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Portrait of Doctor Zofia Bajorek

Dr Zofia Bajorek

Role: Researcher
Position:
Research Fellow, Institute for Employment Studies 

Dr Bajorek’s research interests focus on the role of line managers, the management of the psychological contract and the flexible and temporary workforce. She has also undertaken various research projects focusing on different aspects of the health and well-being of the workforce from both organisational and policy perspectives. 

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Portrait of Doctor Emma Salter

Dr Emma Salter

Role: Researcher
Position:
Researcher, Half the Sky 

Dr Salter currently focuses on projects relating to flexible working. Her other research interests are gender, education and social justice, which she combined in her doctoral research on the educational attainment of the children of lone mothers. She has mostly worked in the field of educational research using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

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Portrait of Chira Tochia

Chira Tochia

Role: Researcher
Position:
PhD student and Lecturer of Media and Communication 

Chira is currently working towards her PhD in web science exploring the themes of work-life balance and boundary theories in the digital realm. Can you ever be off duty?

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 Publications

Coming soon

Findings

We have our first research findings, click the button below to watch the video of our webinar “Working from Home: Transitions and Tensions” and read the accompanying bulletin.