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Work, Employment and HRM Research Community

Our core mission is to produce high quality and innovative research with real-world impact.

Work, Employment and HRM research community (WEHRM) brings together scholars who are passionate about improving working lives.

We're an interdisciplinary community, with a strong sociological and critical focus. We extend theoretical insights in relation to the experience of employment. We inform policy and practice to bring about positive change. Our research concerns issues at a local, regional, national and international level.

Professors David Lain and Susan Kirk lead the WEHRM community.

Research themes

  • work and employment studies
  • employee relations
  • human resource management
  • human resource development
  • careers, education and learning

Our research

Recent projects in the WEHRM community have explored:

  • The impact of working from home (Abigail Marks)
  • Mentoring support for women in employment (Ana Lopes)
  • The consequences of redundancy in industry (Ewan McKenzie, Alan McKinlay, Stephen Procter)
  • Recruitment and retention in rural areas (Susan Kirk)
  • Mobility and the world of work (Susan Kirk, Tracy Scurry)
  • Older workers, health and self-employment (David Lain)
  • The digital economy and new technologies and work (Yin Liang)
  • Hope labour in creative industries (Ewan Mackenzie)
  • Employability and student careers (Tracy Scurry, Jo Clark, Sarah Carnegie)
  • Doctoral students’ educational experiences (Susan Kirk, David Lain, Sara Zaeemdar, Tracy Scurry)
  • Hybrid work in the medical professions (Susan Kirk)
  • Menopause and employment (Clare Butler)
  • Care workers (Deborah Harrison, Stephen Procter, David Lain, Tracy Scurry)
  • HRM in developing countries (Sawlat Zaman)
  • Employment relations and precarious work (Marti Lopez-Andreu)
  • Diversity and gender equality in employment (Emily Yarrow, Nosheen Khan)
  • The future of work and HRM (Stephen Procter, Abigail Marks, Yin Liang, Deborah Harrison)

External engagement and collaboration

We're committed to engaging with stakeholders to conduct research that makes a real difference in the world of work. We have worked with a number of organisations, including:

  • HM Treasury
  • Office Health Inequalities and Disparities
  • North East Mayoral Combined Authority
  • East Midlands Combined Mayoral Authority
  • Rural England
  • British Digital UK
  • Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
  • European Commission
  • Enterprise Research Council
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
  • Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative (NARTI)
  • The Society of Occupational Medicine