Regional differences, changing working patterns and high-skilled labour mobility

The propensity of individuals to work from home (WFH) all or some of the time (known as remote and hybrid working, respectively) has proliferated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The growth of WFH has been particularly pronounced amongst highly skilled workers.

The rise of WFH, in effectively decoupling the geography of home and work, in theory presents opportunities for addressing regional inequalities, which are particularly pronounced in the UK, as revealed by the entrenched concentration of well remunerated jobs in specific core-regions, exacerbated by the selective migration of skilled labour towards them. In the UK case, this would involve the redistribution of human capital and economic activity from areas with ‘overheating’ property markets to other relatively affordable parts of the country, thus producing a more equitable distribution of human capital and productive economic activity.

The issue of what the WFH revolution means for regional inequalities sits at the heart of longstanding scholarly and policy interest in the deeply uneven spatial patterning of opportunities within the UK. As some high-skilled workers may no longer need to reside within or near the buoyant labour markets that offer the most attractive jobs, this could result in more economically peripheral areas retaining human capital and attracting it from elsewhere on account of more modest living costs.

But does this play out in practice? What does it mean for different parts of the UK and for economic growth?

Timescales: June 2024-March 2025

Objectives

The main objective of this research is to elucidate the relationship between WFH and residential mobility amongst skilled workers and to consider its implications for spatial inequalities.

This research used mix methods to examine the following questions:

How has the prevalence of working from home/ hybrid working amongst highly skilled workers evolved before, during and post-pandemic?
Has working from home/ hybrid working become more exclusive (in terms of socio-economic status) post-pandemic than it was during it?
What is the geography of working from home/ hybrid working and highly skilled human capital post-pandemic?
Is there evidence of a relationship between the rise of working from home/ hybrid working and changing residential preferences and mobilities?
What does the data landscape look like in terms of researching working from home/ hybrid working, residential mobility and the geography of high skill human capital, and what might be improved in this respect?
How has working from home/ hybrid working impacted cities and how can policy make places attractive and “sticky” to high-skilled labour?

The quantitative element of the research drew on the UK Household Longitudinal Study to examine trends over time in working from home, hybrid working and residential mobility. The qualitative aspect of this study involved three in-depth case studies of major regional cities – Glasgow, Sheffield and Birmingham - in the UK.

The Team

Dr David McCollum is a Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of St Andrews and a member the ESRC Centre for Population Change. David’s research interests include the welfare state, labour market change and labour migration.

Prof Jackline Wahba is Professor of Economics at the University of Southampton and a member the ESRC Centre for Population Change. Jackline’s research interests include labour migration and labour markets.

Prof Anne Green is Professor of Regional Economic Development at City-REDI, University of Birmingham. A geographer by background, she is a mixed methods researcher with applied research interests in employment, non-employment, local and regional labour markets, skills issues, migration, commuting and regional, urban and rural development.

Prof Jonathan Payne is Professor of Work, Employment and Skills at De Montfort University’s School of Leadership, Management and Marketing in the Faculty of Business and Law. A qualitative researcher, his interests span the links between skills and performance, work organisation and job quality, and third-sector employability support.

Ian Taylor is a consultant and research fellow with publications across academia and industry. His work at the University of Oxford, the University of the Arts London and the University of Manchester has covered economic development, responsible business and cross-sector collaboration.

Dr Armine Ghazaryan is a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics at University of Southampton and the ESRC Centre for Population Change. Armine’s research interests include economic inequality, labour economics, migration, and political economy.

Project lead contact details:

For City-REDI – Anne Green, a.e.green.1@bham.ac.uk

(At the University of Southampton the lead is Jackie Wahba – she was PI on the project