Outline and Features of theSkills and Employment Survey 2012

Professor Alan Felstead,Cardiff School of Social Sciences,

Cardiff University

www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/ses2012

Questions and Answers

1. What is it?2. What are its origins?3. Who are its funders?4. What are its aims?5. What are its themes?6. What analysis is planned?7. What is the timetable?

1.What is the Skills and EmploymentSurvey (SES) 2012?

• Survey of individual workers aged 20-65 in Britain• 3,170 face-to-face interviews will be carried out in the first half of 2012• Stratified random sampling of households plus random selection of one respondent per household• Survey focuses on skills and employment• Builds on legacies left by previous surveys (SCELI, EIB & Skills Surveys• But inclusion of questions from the other surveys (e.g. Working in Britain, PIAAC, EWCS & ESS)

2. What are the origins of SES2012?

• It is part of a series of individual-level surveys• They offer a different perspective from NESS (now UK Employer Skills Survey) by questioning

job-holders about skills and related issues• 5 surveys carried out over the last 25 years• 1986 (4,047); 1992 (3,855); 1997 (2,467); 2001 (4,470); 2006 (7,787)• 2006 contained boosts for the East Midlands (total 1,101), Scotland (2,000), Northern Ireland

(498) & Wales (407) – Future Skills Wales provided funds for Wales

3. Who is funding the 2012 survey?

• ESRC/UKCES Strategic Partnership – a collaboration between the ESRC & UKCES on projects of both academic and policy relevance• Additional funding from WISERD to boost the sample size for Wales (expect to yield a total Welsh sample of circa 570)

4. What are the aims of the survey?Overarching Aim:

‘to produce an integrated survey of the skills & employmentExperiences of working life in Britain in 2012 which willbecome a key & distinctive resource for research oncontemporary working life’.

Four Objectives:1. Describe and analyze the level and distribution of skillsrequirements of jobs in British workplaces in 2012 and comparethese patterns with earlier data points.2. Describe and analyze the level and distribution of key aspects ofworkers’ experiences of their jobs in 2012, and compare with earlier data points.3. Use the data to develop three distinctive original and substantivecontributions to scholarship surrounding job quality and skill.4. Make the data available and provide the necessary data supportfor further analyses by academic or policy-based researchers.

5. What are the themes of the survey?

• Skill trends• Skills utilization and over-education• The nature of training and learning• The changing quality of work• Well-being at work• Organizational & employment commitment• Job preferences & motivations to work• Fear at work and job insecurity• Computerization of work• The organization of work• The changing type and location of work

6. What analytical plans are there?

• Overview report for Britain (January 2013)• Overview report for Wales (internal draft end of June 2012, publishable report January 2013)• Analytical paper on ‘the nature of training and learning at work’ (Working Paper summer 2013)• Analytical paper on ‘education, skills and well-being’ (Working Paper summer 2013)• Analytical paper on ‘fear at work’ (Working Paper summer 2013)• Longitudinal follow-up (ESRC funding sought)

7. What is the timetable for the project?(June 2011 to November 2013)

• Development of survey instrument (Jun-11to Oct-11)• OJEU Notice for Tenders (Jul-11)• Appointment of fieldwork agency (Sep-11)• Fieldwork agency contracted (Oct-11)• Set-up for main survey (Oct-11 to Dec-11)• Main fieldwork (Jan-12 to May-12)• Welsh interim data delivery (end of Mar-12)• Complete data delivery (end of Jun-12)• Overview report published (Jan-13)• Analysis (Jun-12 to Nov-13)

Email: alanfelstead@cf.ac.uk

http://www.cf.ac.uk/people/alanfelstead/

From this, you can get an Executive Summary, Full Report & under Publications/Research

Monographs, you will find the Boost Reports.