The Measuring Job Quality Working Group, led by the Royal Society of Arts and the Carnegie UK, published a report in response to the recommendations of Matthew Taylor’s Modern Employment Review and the UK government’s Good Work Plan.

The recommendations in the report detail the findings of the Measuring Job Quality Working Group co-chaired by Matthew Taylor and Martyn Evans of the Carnegie Trust. Set up in 2017, the group put forward job quality measures - relating to the terms of employment, pay & benefits, health, safety & wellbeing, job design & nature of work, social support & cohesion, and work life balance.

Following a review of more than 100 questions asked in existing surveys and a process of deliberation and prioritisation, the group agreed 18 priority measures of job quality. Among them are satisfaction with pay, the minimum number of guaranteed hours, mental health, opportunities for progression, relationships with line managers, and employee involvement in decision making.

The group concluded that the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the best vehicle for capturing this information. The LFS already contains six of the measures proposed by the Working Group, and the cost of adding the additional 12 measures would amount to £200,000 per year.

Samantha Hurley, Operations Director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies commented, “We welcome the ‘Measuring Good Work’ report’s recommendations which encourage action to better understand the make-up of the UK jobs market in terms of quality of work, not just quantity.”

“We will continue to work closely with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) - as we have done for many years on issues impacting the professional jobs market , and we would be happy to urge our members to complete such a survey,” Hurley said.