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New IER paper on MSK and work

A new provocation paper on musculoskeletal (MSK) health and work, which challenges current government policy thinking, has been launched by the IER. Authors Chris Warhurst, Philip Taylor, Hilda Ragnarsdóttir, Gill Dix and Laura Boothman argue that while policy rightly focuses on getting more people with existing MSK conditions into work, greater attention needs to focus on proactive workplace interventions to prevent people from developing MSK in their work and then having to leave their jobs. The paper formed the basis of Chris's opening talk at on 13 October.

Warhurst, C., Taylor, P., Ragnarsdóttir, H., Dix, G. and Boothman, L. (2026) , October 2026.

Development of the UK Standard Skills Classification

In April, the UK Standard Skills ClassificationLink opens in a new window was launched, created by the IER and the University of Sheffield, in partnership with Omnifolio on behalf of Skills England.

Have you ever wondered how it was created? Its development is featured in the 91Ó°ÊÓÆƽâ°æ’s Impact Amplified series, where Professor Peter Elias Link opens in a new windowtalks about the inherent challenges, the supporting role of AI and future plans. Find out more in this piece on Building a common language for skillsLink opens in a new window.

Dr Jamelia Harris presented at international conferences

IER's Dr Jamelia Harris presented findings at two international academic conferences this month, drawing on work from two different research projects. Dr Harris shared work from the project "Help or hindrance? Exploring the impact of foreign aid on local skills" at the 23rd Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South (N-AERUS) Conference.

Dr Harris presented a paper titled "Foreign Aid and Skills in Developing Countries: Towards a Holistic Framework of National Skills Development" which explores the many ways in which foreign aid can impact skills development in developing countries, analysing direct, indirect and unintentional consequences of the aid-skills nexus. At the 3rd MethodsNET Conference, Dr Harris presented work from the project "Colonial legacies and the labour market in the English-speaking Caribbean". This presentation centred on the methodological design of the interdisciplinary project, which brings together an economist and a historian and uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study the labour market in four Caribbean countries spanning 1800 to 2025. The paper argues for the practice of mixed methods research to understand questions that span lengthy time periods and for which contextualisation is critical. It also highlights some of the challenges of conducting this type of work in the Global South and extracts lessons for the decolonial agenda.

The Budget: Trinidad and Tobago

Whilst many have been focused on the Westminster budget this week, IER's provided expert analysis on Trinidad and Tobago's.

Jamelia was part of a panel of experts which analysed the Trinidad and Tobago national budget immediately after its reading on 12 October. Since securing independence in 1962, the Trinidad and Tobago economy has been dependent on the energy sector, but has seen falling energy outputs in the past decade. Earlier this year the country entered a recession with significant job losses.

Against this backdrop, the budget aimed to offer short-term support and promote private engagement in large infrastructure projects. However, there is an absence of long-term planning, no plans for economic diversification and no credible measures to reduce the budget deficit and contain rising public debt. As well as expert opinion on the budget itself, Dr Harris offered analysis on broad-based economic development, the need to boost labour force participation and create meaningful jobs, and transform systems of collective bargaining for public sector workers.

The full recording is available on .