About this Event
1.30pm: Welcome
1.35pm: Opening Remarks
1.45pm: Understanding “good jobs” employees and employers in Northern Ireland using linked administrative and survey data
Dr Finola Ferry, Dr Laura Gallagher & Prof Jamie Murphy, Administrative Data Research Centre NI (ADRC NI), School of Psychology, Ulster University
Increasing the percentage of the Northern Ireland population in “good jobs” is a policy priority identified in the Northern Ireland Executive Programme for Government (PfG) 2024-27 and is one of four key objectives in the Department for the Economy’s (DfE) Economic Vision. In consultation with the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the DfE defined a “good job” as one with a permanent contract, which is non-zero hours and delivers the Real Living Wage. This presentation harnesses available administrative data - a valuable linked data resource - to share preliminary findings on people working in “good jobs” in Northern Ireland and businesses providing those jobs, drawing on academic research that included engagement with the DfE and other stakeholders. Such findings provide informative insights for Assembly deliberations on the forthcoming Good Jobs Employment Bill, which aims to improve job quality and workers’ rights in Northern Ireland. They also importantly highlight how administrative data analysis can inform the development and the targeted delivery of the forthcoming bills, including the “Good Jobs” Employment Rights Bill, specifically its proposals relating to pay and terms of employment. The presentation explains how analysis of linked survey and administrative data, using NISRA’s new Northern Ireland Business Data for Research (BDR) 2022 themed dataset, offers enormous potential to enhance Assembly understanding in this area. This dataset comprised several individually valuable datasets, including annual data from the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) and the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) from 2014 to 2022, provides unprecedented insight into a wide range of individual and business level characteristics of the Northern Ireland’s “good jobs” landscape. It sets out findings on: • The types of people in “good jobs” generally and “good jobs” in priority sectors, across key socio-demographic and work-related characteristics • The profile of “good jobs” in relation to business-level characteristics, such as industry, size/number of employees, gender composition, location and working pattern composition • The business level characteristics associated with each “good jobs” indicator • How job quality has been studied internationally using administrative data It also signposts follow-on academic study that will provide evidence on individual transitions in and out of “good jobs”, including their determinants and barriers, as well as individual pathways to “good jobs” in terms of education and training. This research project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (funder reference UKRI3102).
2.05pm: Clustering for Impact: Shared Services – the Challenges and Solution for Social Economy Growth in Northern Ireland Prof Laura McCauley & Dr Isobel Cunningham, Ulster University Business School, Ulster University
This presentation addresses Northern Ireland’s social economy, a key economic and social pillar in Northern Ireland, which is growing in size, breadth and impact. It contributes £933 million to the Northern Ireland economy and delivers €2.34 billion of impact in the Republic of Ireland, supporting nearly 100,000 jobs across the island of Ireland, (Department for Economy, 2025; Department of Rural and Community Development, 2023). Drawing on an all-island qualitative academic research study involving 25 social enterprises with and without direct experience of using a “Shared Services Model” approach, the presentation shares findings from the study that are relevant to Assembly deliberations on forthcoming bills, such as the Regional Jobs, Skills and Investment Bill and the Good Jobs Employment Bill. The presentation provides context, highlighting how the social economy is underpinned by a diverse array of social enterprises, varying significantly in their scale, sectoral focus, geographic context and economic resilience, presenting challenges and significant opportunities for economic development in Northern Ireland, with potential to help deliver regional balance, employment, enterprise and economic impact region wide. It explains how social enterprises growth supports Community Wealth Building, a key economic development mechanism, delivering jobs and investment in communities in the region (Regional Jobs, Skills and Investment Bill priority) and showing how such growth delivers regional balance as social enterprises often employs those furthest from the labour market (Good Jobs Employment Bill priority). And whilst those positive impacts occur, the presentation identifies operational and strategic barriers faced by many social enterprises, such as limited administrative capacity and skills, fragmented business processes and financial and human constraints hindering their ability to scale, grow and maximise their potential and impact. To address those barriers and enable social enterprise clustering, collaboration, reduced operational costs, enhanced competitive potential and contributions for economic and social support, the presentation proposes a Shared Services Model (SSM), which is innovative and nuanced. The SSM adapts an established model of Shared Services used in some industries and organisations, developing it as a mechanism for growth and sustainability in the social economy, to transform resource-constrained social enterprises into resilient, scalable and resource-rich entities, helping them to contribute to the delivery of regional economic balance and inclusive growth. It also enables the sharing of common functions across clustered organisations, based on collaborative networks/clusters, where enterprises share resources and expertise, such as human resources, finance, IT and/or marketing, to achieve organisational goals. The presentation also shares insights regarding the barriers and perceptions of shared services and how a SSM may vary depending on the developmental stage of the social enterprises. Moreover, it identifies key factors for a SSM that successfully supports effective clustering in the social economy and informs a six-stage SSM development framework.
2.25pm: Better Learning: Enhancing mentoring and support for work-based learning Dr Kristen Reid & Dr Fran Myers, The Open University Business School, The Open University
Northern Ireland’s increasing policy focus on apprenticeships and work-based learning for 16-18 year-olds places growing responsibility on employers to support younger learners effectively. While these routes are central to skills development, productivity and inclusive growth, far less attention has been paid to whether employers - particularly their line managers and workplace mentors - are adequately prepared for the roles they are expected to perform. Relevant to Assembly deliberations concerning forthcoming bills relating to employment, training and education, this presentation draws on British Academy-funded research and a broader set of studies from The Open University, alongside established practice in Northern Ireland through the Mid-Ulster Manufacturing and Engineering Graduate Apprenticeships (MEGA), to share insights about workplace support systems and how they shape learner outcomes and economic value and in future could support skills strategies, economic development priorities and equitable learner outcomes in Northern Ireland. It is based on over 30 in-depth interviews across the apprenticeship and work-based learning ecosystem, including apprentices, line managers, employers, professional bodies and trade associations. Provisional findings from the studies evidence line managers and workplace mentors occupying pivotal but often under-recognised positions. In practice, these individuals are responsible not only for overseeing skills development, but also for significant elements of pastoral care, learner well-being, assessment support and regulatory compliance, which frequently are assumed with little formal preparation, guidance or recognition. The presentation highlights how current on-the job learning requirements specified in policy frameworks largely devolve responsibility to employers, who in turn often delegate that role to individual managers. That, however, is done without adequate support, which can result in inconsistent learner experiences and inequitable outcomes, particularly for younger apprentices navigating the transition into work. The research also shows the significance of organisational context: larger employers are more likely to have established apprenticeship leads and structured support systems, while managers and mentors in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often report having to ‘muddle through’, leading to isolation, uncertainty and additional pressure. Providing comparative insights from across the United Kingdom, the research suggests those challenges are not unique to Northern Ireland, but locally developed intermediary models can mitigate their impact. It draws attention to the role of professional bodies, trade associations and regional partnerships in acting as bridging organisations for SMEs. MEGA provides such an example, highlighting how coordinated support, peer networks and shared resources can strengthen work-based learning ecosystems and improve learner experiences. Bringing the research findings together, the presentation identifies four areas where policy could strengthen employer capacity and support high-quality work-based learning at scale. Those are: (1) the development of accessible online resource banks and induction toolkits for managers and mentors; (2) clearer role expectations; (3) opportunities for professional development and networking; and, (4) mechanisms for sharing effective practice across sectors and funding models. And it highlights that the research evidence suggests that sustainable productivity growth and equitable learner outcomes are best achieved when participation requirements are matched by proportionate support for employers, enabling line managers and mentors to deliver consistent skills development, progression and well-being support across diverse organisational contexts.
2.45pm: Discussion
3.15pm: Closing
3.20pm: Networking & Refreshments
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Parliament Buildings, Parliament Buildings, Belfast, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
