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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Jun 10

Today’s stats paint a picture of a weakening labour market. Unemployment is rising (4.6%), vacancies are falling, and more people are returning to the labour market—often out of necessity, not opportunity. This should be a red flag ahead of tomorrow’s Spending Review. 🧵(1/6)

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Sharon Wright @profsharonwright.bsky.social · Mar 26

Spread the word! Exciting new fully funded PhD opportunity to research disabled people's lived experiences of benefit reform and the costs of disability.
Deadline: 10 April
@uofglasgow.bsky.social @uofgussp.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social @sgsss.bsky.social @clemmiehilloconnor.bsky.social

https://www.sgsss.ac.uk/studentship/disabled-peoples-lived-experiences-of-benefit-reform-and-the-costs-of-disability/
ESRC-funded Supervisor-led Studentship
Disabled People's Lived Experiences of Benefit Reform and the Costs of Disability
University of Glasgow
Supervisors: Professor Sharon Wright, Professor Charlotte Pearson, Dr Clementine Hill O'Connor
Deadline 10 April, 5pm BST
References due 16 April, 5pm BST
To apply go to apply.sgsss.ac.uk
Picture of historic stone Glasgow University building with green grass, trees and sunshine.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 17

Great to see our @irhws.bsky.social findings covered in @thetimes.com over the weekend, in this article exploring five years of remote and hybrid working since the pandemic (well worth a full read, despite the depressingly cynical picture accompanying it).

Five years of the WFH experiment: is it working?

After half a decade of ‘you’re on mute’, are we all about to be hauled back to our office desks full-time? Matt Rudd reports

www.thetimes.com

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Great to see the @bigissue.com pick up on our policy paper today on disabled workers' experiences of remote and hybrid working @irhws.bsky.social with @lancasteruni.bsky.social @manmetuni.bsky.social & Universal Inclusion, supported by the @nuffieldfoundation.org

www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

Working from home vital for disabled people to keep a job, DWP told

A staggering 80% of disabled people in fully remote jobs told researchers that WFH had a “positive impact” on managing their health.

www.bigissue.com

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Read the briefing in full here:

www.lancaster.ac.uk

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Remote and hybrid working is generally experienced as beneficial by disabled workers but there is unequal access to support, understanding and the right type of flexibility.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Despite increasing demand for remote and hybrid roles, there is an advertising gap, with only one in 26 vacancies (3.8%) on the Department for Work and Pensions Find a Job portal including an option for such work.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Nearly one in three disabled workers (30%) who are already working in a hybrid way want to spend more of their work time working at home.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

There is high demand for remote and hybrid working to manage health conditions and impairments, with 85% of disabled workers reporting that access to remote and hybrid work is essential or very important when looking for a new job.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Working from home had a positive impact on 80% of those in fully remote roles when it came to managing their health. This proportion reduces to 38% for those who work remotely less than half of the time, suggesting that the benefits decline if people are expected to work onsite very regularly.

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Mar 13

Pleased to see the launch of the first output from our @irhws.bsky.social project today, exploring disabled workers' experiences of remote & hybrid working and putting forward a number of policy recommendations for the government. Thread below on some of our key findings 👇

Beyond the Office? How remote and hybrid working can help close the disability employment gap - Lancaster University

New interim report from Lancaster University, the Work Foundation, Manchester Metropolitan University and Universal Inclusion - funded by the Nuffield Foundation - reveals that five years on from the ...

www.lancaster.ac.uk

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Feb 10

Great to see support for the proposed Employment Rights Bill across the political spectrum, with nearly 3 in 4 in support of banning zero hours contracts, widening access to Statutory Sick Pay and granting employment rights from day one.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Labour urged to defend workers’ rights bill as poll shows huge public support

Exclusive: Poll reveals 72% of UK voters favour ban on zero-hours contracts, including majority of Tory and Reform supporters

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Feb 3

Shows that zero-hours can be a very permanent state, with some people stuck in this for years not knowing how many hours/wages they'll get week to week.

Natalie Sedacca @nataliesedacca.bsky.social · Feb 3

Research finds majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months and one in eight for over a decade, while only seven zero-hours contract workers say they are happy not to have regular working hours www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Most zero-hours workers ‘with same employer for more than a year’

TUC says 1m people are on the insecure contracts – with 130,000 still not having full rights after 10 years

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 30

Thanks Si, appreciate it! 🙂

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Jan 23

Costly sticking plaster with ONS hiring temp staff to try and improve reliability of Labour Force Survey.

For a longer term fix, why not make responding to the survey mandatory, like in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany etc.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

ONS to spend millions on temp workers to fix ‘unusable’ UK employment data

Exclusive: Office for National Statistics to spend £8m in deal with employment agency Randstad to recruit hires

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 27

Full report: timewise.co.uk/wp-content/u...

timewise.co.uk

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 27

Good to see @timewise.bsky.social in the news today highlighting flexible working inequalities. A key takeaway for me is the business case for supporting workers to find a better work-life balance, particularly when it comes to recruitment and retention.

See below for a link to the full report 👇

Inequality in flexible working dividing Britain into ‘two-tier workforce’

Exclusive: Office workers have more flexibility than frontline staff such as nurses and shop workers, report says

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 20

A great 🧵here from @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social on the need for more actual evidence and research across the back-to-office debate, rather than the "gut feelings" of individuals 👇

Work Foundation @workfoundation.bsky.social · Jan 20

This morning the BBC reported that Lord Rose stated that working from home is 'not proper work'. https://buff.ly/3E40aDl

Our Principal Analyst, @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social commented:

“The recent push-back from some employers to roll back on hybrid and remote work is unhelpful...

Working from home is 'not proper work', says ex-Asda boss

Lord Rose says it harms productivity but expert says hybrid work can be as good as full-time in the office.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Dr Calum Carson

Rebecca Florisson @rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social · Jan 8

A great read showing how difficult it is for workers on UC to take on more hours. "The reality is that most low-paid workers are within the scope of Income Tax and National Insurance and so their effective deduction rate is 68 per cent." On min wage, this means people are left with £3.71 per hour.

Ashwin Kumar @ashwin-kumar.bsky.social · Jan 8

Overlapping tax and benefit withdrawal means two-fifths of Universal Credit claimants will face effective deduction rates of more than 55%

See my blog from new @mmuperu.bsky.social research funded by @financialfairness.bsky.social

www.financialfairness.org.uk/en-gb/what-w...

The messy reality of work incentives

The messy reality of work incentives. Universal Credit problems.

www.financialfairness.org.uk

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 6

Now that the @irhws.bsky.social is coming to an end, I'm happy to say that from next week I'll be beginning a new role as a Senior Policy Adviser at Acas: exciting times! I'll miss academia, but also looking forward to the chance to enact positive change from the inside, for a change 👀

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 3

And the final report of the project can be read in full at:

www.nuffieldfoundation.org

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 3

Full details of the geographical analysis of the project can be found in a working paper available at:

www.nuffieldfoundation.org

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 3

This report is part of an extensive exploration of the disability employment gap in the UK by Mark Bryan, Andrew Bryce, Jennifer Roberts and Cristina Sechel of the University of Sheffield (funded by the @nuffieldfoundation.org):

Unpacking the disability employment gap - Nuffield Foundation

Nuffield Foundation research is investigating what contributes to the longstanding disability employment gap in the UK.

www.nuffieldfoundation.org

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Jan 3

Important New Year reading here, with this final report of a project exploring regional differences in the disability employment gap. Results show strong correlation between the size of the DEG and levels of economic deprivation across an area: well worth a deep dive into the data (see👇for more).

New research reveals where in Great Britain people with a disability find it hardest to be in employment

The five areas in Great Britain where disabled people are least likely to be in employment compared with non-disabled people have been revealed in a new report from the University of Sheffield.

www.sheffield.ac.uk

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Dr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · Dec 18

Wait what? When did this happen?

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