In a central London speech, alongside the Prime Minister and Business Secretary Greg Clark, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, set out his blueprint for a UK economy that truly works for everyone, creating more skilled, well-paid jobs to boost the nation’s earning power and productivity.
Matthew Taylor, who was commissioned last year by the Prime Minister to carry out this review called for a fresh look to be taken at employment laws to make it easier for workers to understand and access their rights.
Matthew Taylor said:
Our national performance on the quantity of work is strong. But quantity alone is not enough for a thriving economy and fair society. We believe now is the time to complement that commitment to creating jobs with the goal of creating better jobs.
The Review calls on the government to adopt the ambition that all work should be fair and decent with scope for fulfilment and development.
Despite the impact of the National Living Wage and tax credits, there will always be people who are in work but finding it hard to make ends meet. Our social contract with those people should include dignity at work and the realistic scope to progress in the labour market.
Bad work – insecure, exploitative, controlling – is bad for health and wellbeing, something that generates cost for vulnerable individuals but also for wider society.
As many business leaders recognise, low quality work and weak management is implicated in our productivity challenge. Improving the quality of work should be an important part of our productivity strategy.
Technology – like robotics and machine learning – is going to have a big impact on jobs and the tasks that make up those jobs. As we seize these technological opportunities – as we must – we should do so with the aim of making working lives better, taking away the drudgery and leaving the human contact and creativity that machines can’t provide.
If we want citizens who are engaged, responsible, active, who – to coin a phrase – ‘take back control’ we should encourage those same virtues in the workplace. Our idea of what it is to be a respected citizen should not stop at the office or factory door.
Prime Minister Theresa May launched the Taylor Review in a speech at the Royal Society of Arts.
The government will now be engaging with stakeholders across the country, including those who represent employers and employees, to understand their views ahead of publishing a full government response later in the year.
Business Secretary Greg Clark said:
We have record numbers of people in work thanks to our flexible labour market.
Being in work is important but people also deserve to be treated fairly by their employers whatever work they are carrying out.
I’d like to thank Matthew Taylor and his expert panel for conducting such a thorough and detailed review. We will be engaging people and organisations across the country to continue this important debate.
Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure wherever people are in the country, there are more skilled, well-paid jobs to increase productivity and earning power, benefiting both workers and business.
If you have any questions or comments about the Taylor Review, please contact modernemploymentreview@beis.gov.uk.
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