The Work Futures Research Centre (WFRC) was founded in 2008 as one of the University of Southampton’s Strategic Research Groups. It provides an interdisciplinary hub for work-related research. By bringing together researchers and practitioners, the WFRC tackles and innovates on some of the most pressing challenges facing the world of work. We are interested in diversity within labour markets and workplaces, around gender, race and ethnicity, social class, educational background, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical and mental health, neurodiversity, and geographical location.
The WFRC serves as a forum for academics from across the University to disseminate their research and work together in innovative ways to develop insights into work futures. It also serves as a focal point for organisations seeking research expertise and collaboration in addressing the issues that matter to them. The research centre brings together cross-disciplinary expertise for knowledge exchange and enterprise, and as part of academic bids. Our cutting-edge research on work futures is disseminated to decision-makers, practitioners, and academic audiences through ongoing dialogue and briefings, seminars, and events.
Our research expertise draws upon disciplines across the social and web sciences, business, arts and humanities, and health sciences. We publish in a diverse range of academic, policy, and practice formats. We have hosted numerous policy seminars, contributed to inquiries in the UK parliament and devolved legislatures, provided keynote speakers at international academic and business conferences, and conducted bespoke reviews for the UK’s leading funding bodies.
The WFRC is coordinated by four directors: Dan Ashton (Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries), Jane Parry (Associate Professor of Work and Employment), Rebecca Taylor (Associate Professor of Sociology), Maria Villares-Varela (Associate Professor of Sociology). Our members are researchers from across the University, including the social sciences, geography, health sciences, and computer sciences. Our team of early-career Fellows is responsible for producing the Work Futures podcast, blog series, and maintaining our social media presence, bringing a wealth of cutting-edge knowledge and expertise from their PhD research.