In the UK, we have one in four workers who are in what I would consider to be a poor quality job.
In London, that's even higher.
It's one in three workers.
So these are workers who have poor employment conditions, often low wages, precarious contracts,
unstable jobs, work too many hours or work too few hours and are looking for more work.
That's Kirsten Seinbruch from LSE's International Inequalities Institute.
For many, The world of work is defined by instability, poor contracts and rising insecurity.
On the other hand, technological shifts are offering unprecedented gains.
AI promises a massive productivity uplift, removes tragedy and stimulates creativity.
We're seeing models of employment which promise the ability to work from anywhere,
providing geographic flexibility and making location no longer a constraint for individuals choosing where to live.
And overall, on average, people are working slightly less.
Welcome to LSE IQ,
the podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question.
I am Mayan Arad from the IQ team,
where we work with academics to bring you their latest research and ideas and talk to people affected by the issues we explore.
In this episode, I ask, are jobs getting better?
And if so, for whom?
I learned why we need to focus on job quality,
not just quantity, and discover how AI is reshaping creativity and productivity.