This chapter introduces the main concerns and themes of the book. It provides a brief overview of important developments and trends relating to the labour market and the organization of work as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter then sets out five themes that are addressed...

Studies of work and employment transitions have tended to focus on movements from education into work and from unemployment (or inactivity) to employment. Young people have been a particular focus of attention in both cases. However, transitions are increasingly being studied in relation to the...

This chapter explores the issue of gender inequality in work and labour markets, which has been a major theme in scholarship and policymaking, with heightened salience post-COVID-19. The chapter examines gender inequality through the prism of decent work and women's economic empowerment (WEE),...

This chapter examines how and why those with episodic disability often lack decent work. It, therefore, fills an important gap given that the subject of disability and employment can tend to be sidelined in business and management journals. Episodic disability is a topical issue since many...

In this chapter, we analyse migration regulations introduced during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every country in the world implemented various measures to reduce the spread of the virus, including restrictions on internal and international mobility and closures of...

This chapter reviews the debate about automation and the future of work. It presents the discussions about the concept of routine-biased technological change, which emphasises processes of polarisation, as routinised low-skill and middle-skill jobs are especially affected by technological...

The chapter provides an overview of the rise of telework and its consequences for work and employment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the policy changes and debates triggered by the significant expansion of this form of work in European labour markets. It shows that the pandemic...

Research debates on the future of work, and platform work in particular, have pointed to the role of digital technologies in intensifying pressures on platform workers to achieve positive client ratings in order to maintain a steady flow of work opportunities. And while it is recognised that the...

The International Labour Organization's Future of Work initiative and the United Nation's Sustainability Goals call for inclusiveness by providing more reliable and adequate social protection. This chapter focuses on unemployment insurance benefits (UIB), drawing on examples primarily from...

Reflecting on the challenges arising from new digital technologies and from climate change, this chapter reviews what the research tells us about the changing patterns of low pay and the consequences for low-paid workers. Its focus is international and as such covers a wide range of social,...