Professor Damian Grimshaw

Damian Grimshaw is Professor of Employment Studies and Associate Dean for Research Impact. He was previously Director of the Research Department at a major United Nations agency, the International Labour Organisation, for two years (Geneva, 2018-19).

Prior to that he was Professor at the University of Manchester, Head of the HR and Employment Relations and Law group and Director of the European Work and Employment Research Centre.

While at the International Labour Organisation, Damian was Technical Co-lead for the Global Commission on the Future of Work, led research on a major report on Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth) and supported the two ILO Flagship reports on Digital Labour Platforms and the World Employment Outlook.

His published work covers international comparisons of low-wage labour markets, outsourcing and HRM, technology and the future of work, precarious work, collective bargaining and gender inequality. His research outlook crosses multiple disciplines, including labour market analysis, comparative employment relations, feminist economics, sociology of work and management.

Damian’s research has been funded by the British Academy, ESRC, European Commission, International Labour Organisation, Leverhulme Trust, Low Pay Commission, OECD and Russell Sage Foundation among others. His work has a strong impact in UK, European and international poliy arenas and is published in leading academic journals.

During 2021-22, Damian teaches ‘Globalisation and Employment’ on the MSc in HRM and Employment Relations and ‘International HRM’ to undergraduates. He is coordinating a major UKRI research programme on human capital and productivity and, together with Marcela Miozzo and Mario Gruber, leads the Regional Productivity Forum for London and the South (as part of the Productivity Institute). Ongoing research also includes precarious work in Europe and the gender inequalities of the Covid-19 pandemic and recession.

Selected Publications

Making Work More Equal (2017, Manchester University Press) – free E-book available. 

“Market exposure and the labour process: The contradictory dynamics in managing subcontracted services” in Work, Employment and Society (2019)

Introduction to the Special Issue on the the Future of Work, in International Labour Review (2019/2020). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ilr.12158

Employment relations and economic performance (with Susan Hayter), in C. Frege and J. Kelly (eds.) Comparative Employment Relations in the Global Economy.