MIRS - Programme of Meetings

Dr Golo Henseke, Associate Professor in Applied Economics, Institute of Education, University College London with discussants: Prof Irena Grugulis, University of Leeds; Emma Brookes, Chair, Manchester CIPD Branch

This year's Arthur Priest Memorial Lecture in conjunction with the Manchester branch of the CIPD will take place on October 9, 6pm-7:30pm at Manchester Metropolitan Business School, Lecture Theatre 33 (and online).

There has been much debate in recent years concerning the potential and actual impact of AI on jobs and the nature of work. This talk introduces the Generative AI Susceptibility Index (GAISI), a novel measure showing how UK jobs are exposed to AI like ChatGPT. GAISI reveals widespread but moderate AI exposure across nearly all jobs (94%), with high-skilled roles most susceptible, marking a departure from previous automation trends. Since 2017, aggregate exposure has risen due to shifts in employment towards more AI-susceptible occupations. Critically, our findings show early evidence of significant labour market disruption: the labour demand in these occupations weakened notably post-ChatGPT, with job postings estimated 5.5% lower in Q2 2025 than expected had pre-GPT hiring trends continued. The hiring slump coincides with declining employment of under-30-year-olds in heavily exposed occupations. This suggests displacement effects may currently outweigh productivity gains, creating tangible pressure on UK jobs and early career workers.

Golo's presentation will be followed by comments from Emma Brookes (CIPD) and Irena Grugulis (University of Leeds).

Please register your in person or virtual attendance at Eventbrite.

The lecture will be held on Thursday 11th December from 3pm in the Penthouse, Alliance Manchester Business School. This will be followed by a small drinks and canapes reception in the room.

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Building worker voice and power in AI decisions: Three cases in the German ICT industry

Virginia Doellgast (Cornell University, USA), Tobias Kämpf (University of Labour, Germany), Barbara Langes (Institute for Social Science Research, Germany)

Abstract

This paper compares works council initiatives to influence the adoption and deployment of AI-based tools in three German Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies, with the aim of investigating the conditions for workers to establish collective voice in these decisions. In all three case studies, works councils strengthened worker voice in decisions concerning the use of management-automating AI technologies in areas such as performance monitoring and workforce analytics. However, they faced more challenges in encouraging alternative approaches to skill development and employment restructuring associated with work-automating AI. Institutional and discursive power resources help to explain both their overall success in strengthening voice and different outcomes across AI applications.

Speaker Bio

Virginia Doellgast is the Anne Evans Estabrook Professor of Employment Relations and Dispute Resolution in the ILR School at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the comparative political economy of labor markets and labor unions, inequality, precarity, and democracy at work. She is currently studying the impact of digitalization and AI on job quality in in the ICT services and game development industries, based on comparative research in North America and Europe. Past research projects have compared labor union responses to restructuring and employer collective action in the telecommunications sector; and worker voice and well-being in call centers.

Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, room G35; also available online via Zoom (details available on registration via Eventbrite).

Please register attendance via Eventbrite.

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Future directions in labour migration law and policy

Manoj Dias-Abey - University of Bristol Law School

Abstract

The United Kingdom's exit from the European Union marked the start of a new phase in labour migration policy. From 1 January 2021, a 'points-based' system was introduced, requiring most people coming to the UK for work to obtain an employer-sponsored visa. The new system has attracted a significant amount of controversy due to the high numbers of foreign-born workers entering the country. Another source of concern has been the many instances of labour exploitation experienced by those migrating for work, especially in the social care sector. The Sunak Conservative government introduced a range of reforms to reduce numbers, and the incoming Labour government has expanded on some of these measures.

Even though people coming to the UK on work visas has started to decrease, further reforms are likely to be implemented. The government has indicated that it plans to take steps to bolster local skills in demand, thereby reducing the need for work visas. They intend for the labour migration system to respond more closely to labour market demands using a new institutional framework that would see the long-standing Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) work closely with new bodies, such as Skills England. In some cases, the government wants to make access to work visas contingent on the implementation of sectoral workforce plans. Overall, it is envisaged that unions and employer representative bodies will become more involved in the design and implementation of the labour migration system.

It is also important to consider the government's broader plans to “make work pay” alongside these migration measures. The government has already accepted in full the Low Pay Commission's recommendations to increase the National Living Wage. An Employment Rights Bill is wending its way through Parliament which would implement a series of reforms to employment rights to reduce precarious working arrangements (e.g., limiting the use of 'zero-hour contracts'), strengthen job security (e.g., faster qualification for unfair dismissal), and improve government enforcement of rights (e.g., consolidating the current patchwork of enforcement agencies under a single enforcement body known as the 'Fair Work Agency').

By developing the local skills base on a sector-by-sector basis, and improving working conditions across the board, the government expects to be able to reduce employers' reliance on migrant workers. This talk assesses whether this deeply technocratic and corporatist vision is likely to be realised in a way that meets all stakeholders' needs while building broader political consensus on the overall direction of the labour migration system.

Speaker Bio

Manoj Dias-Abey is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol Law School. Manoj is a sociolegal scholar who researches in the areas of labour and migration law. His currently working on a project that examines how the UK has historically thought about and regulated labour migration. He has two other active projects: one which examines the work of labour enforcement agencies, and another that looks at how trade unions make use of strategic litigation. He currently sits on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Law in Context and co-convenes the 'law and political economy' stream of the Socio-Legal Studies Association.