In his epoch-defining 1942 report Sir William Beveridge pinpointed the five ‘evils’ confronting the UK – poverty, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness – the response to which from the incoming 1945 Labour Government would define the post-war settlement.
With equal prescience and clarity, the outgoing Chair of ACAS, Clare Chapman, in her recent address to the IPA’s Work Insights Network identified the five ‘disruptors’ which are upending the UK’s industrial model – the political and policy response to which will determine the shape and success of our economy going forward.
She identified:
The impact of AI across the economy and the challenge of a fair transition to the new shape of the labour market.
The challenge of demography – an ageing population which will inevitably require a more sustainable approach to immigration;
The transition to a greener society, the imperative of which will remain despite temporary reversals, especially as geo-political developments undermine reliance on fossil fuels ;
The fragmentation of employment, with the growth of self-employment and portfolio careers.
The resetting of the workplace including an increasing divergence between on-site and work anywhere employment paths.
All these have profound consequences for central government policy, for individuals and for all stakeholders in the world of work.
To take some of the obvious implications:
Individuals will experience and regard changing careers as increasingly the norm, with all the implications for training and life-long learning that brings. That will require agile nation-spanning sector skills assessments and forward planning.
Many aspects of protection for employees will need to be portable, in other words decoupled from an individual employer.
The role of government will be critical, in regulating the impact of AI processes and ensuring gains are shared fairly.
There will need to be a greater reliance on incentives for good practice and embedding good practice through for example government procurement and tax levers.
Does the structure of government interventions in this evolving labour market work – with the divisions of responsibility between departments for Education, Business and Trade, Work and Pensions, and the plethora of arm’s length bodies all understandably pursuing their specific remits?
We need to reconsider the concept of flexicurity – the kind of guarantees for individuals that underly labour market policy in for Germany and the Scandinavian countries.
The principle of individual employability – for those in and out of work – needs to lie at the heart of education policy and underly social policies including welfare. That will mean investment in what used to be called careers advice, and in work coaches, with a national consensus between employers and the education establishment as to the basic skills individuals need to navigate the labour market.
For trade unions too, it means thinking about what individuals value from membership and how they can take the union with them as they move between jobs – does the traditional occupational-based demarcation work?
How can trade union representatives skill up to support individuals not just when things go wrong, but in career development across employers. How can local union representatives get the confidence to engage in AI, in data and job design. Will it require a much larger cohort of skilled full-time officials with these particular skills? Should these be shared between unions – perhaps through a TUC ‘hit squad’? What does that mean for recruiting local reps?
For all the important positives in the Employment Rights Act, it is predicated on a labour market that is changing before our eyes. For future sustainability it’s vital trade unions find a way of engaging with those currently outside the labour market.
It’s equally a challenge for HR – moving from the policing to the ‘people power’ role within organisations. Perhaps this will be instrumental in returning HR to the board table?
Everyone reading this will have their own list of challenges – and their own list of potential solutions and ways forward.
We’d like to hear your thoughts.
We can’t promise a ‘grand theory of everything’ – after all that eluded even Einstein. But we can bring the best challenges and solutions together in a future discussion, and provide some much needed thought and action leadership in this most challenging time – a time-honoured role for the IPA!
Nita Clarke OBE, Director IPA
April 2026