Read my blog on this month's labour market statistics for the @workfoundation.bsky.social

The Chancellor faces a clear test in the Autumn Budget.

Short-term welfare cuts won’t fix this.
It requires investment — in personalised employment support, and in good, secure jobs that help people stay in work long-term.

Because a labour market that relies on insecurity isn’t a resilient one.

Long-term unemployment is on the rise: a quarter (25.5%) of all jobseekers have now been looking for over a year — the highest since 2022.

Vacancies have stabilised at around 723,000, leaving 2.5 jobseekers per vacancy. For many, the door back into work is narrowing, not widening.

Alongside a decrease in insecure work, the number of people who would obtain secure work would increase by 3.8m, with particularly young workers, Black and Asian workers and women benefiting.

Read the full analysis here: www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundat...

By tackling contractual, financial, and rights-based insecurity together, local leaders and national policymakers can help reduce regional inequalities and build more stable, productive economies.

Read the full commentary here:

The analysis highlights a clear link between insecure work and weaker local economies.

Regions with higher levels of job insecurity tend to have higher unemployment and economic inactivity rates.

Addressing insecure work isn’t just about fairness — it’s good economic policy.

Insecure work is unevenly distributed.

It’s concentrated in sectors like hospitality, retail, social care, and administrative services — but patterns vary locally.

In some areas, hospitality roles are more secure, linked to higher value added and productivity.

Across England’s nine MCAs and Greater London, around 19.4% of workers are in severely insecure work.

That’s nearly 1 in 5 workers facing serious uncertainty about their income, hours, or protections.

I look at work insecurity using the @workfoundation.bsky.social three key dimensions:
1️⃣ Contractual insecurity — uncertainty about hours or future work
2️⃣ Financial insecurity — low or unpredictable pay
3️⃣ Lack of rights & protections.

Each of these matters for people and places.

Full report here: www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundat...

In a weakening labour market, we need a safety net that supports—not penalises—those seeking secure, good quality work. The Chancellor must rethink cuts that hit the most vulnerable hardest.
Full article @workfoundation.bsky.social here: www.lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundat...
(6/6)

Cuts to health-related benefits, such as PIP, are being pushed ahead of promised employment support or job quality reforms. The government’s own estimates show more will be pushed into poverty than helped into work. This sequencing is backwards. (5/6)