Latest figures indicate the unemployment rate in Scotland remains higher than the UK average. However, the total number of people unemployed is beginning to fall, with a marginal reduction in recent months.
While this increase in employment is obviously positive, leading academics from the business school's Department of Human Resource Management have raised questions over the quality of roles being created, pointing to the number of poorly paid, unskilled positions, which offer insufficient prospects for progression.
SBS academics and HR practitioners discussed how to address the issue of these so-called 'bad jobs' at a seminar held at Strathclyde Business School on April 19, which was led by Strathclyde's Department of Human Resources Management in conjunction with the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Scottish Partnership.
Strathclyde academics shared their knowledge and provided insight into the significance of job quality and how poor job quality might be addressed. HR practitioners in attendance shared their experiences and examined the potential to improve job quality in their own organisations.
Patricia Findlay, Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research and Professor of Work and Employment Relations at Strathclyde Business School, said, "In challenging economic times, job creation is a government priority and a key component of economic growth.
"However, what is sometimes overlooked is the quality, rather than the quantity, of the jobs created. More low skilled, low paid and low prospect jobs provide employment but may not be as effective in stimulating sustainable growth as the creation of better quality positions. In addition, low quality jobs impose considerable costs on individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. We need job creation, but we also need to create good, sustainable jobs.
"Whether it is measured through job fulfilment, security or salary, the purpose of this seminar is to challenge HR professionals to consider their own roles in improving job quality."
The seminar, part of the CIPD's 'Knowledge into Practice' series, comes in the run up to the publication of a public interest report by Strathclyde Business School, the University of Sydney and the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE). Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the report considers key components of job quality over time and analyses how bad jobs can be made better.