CIPD Manifesto for Good Work

Addressing the UK’s challenges... 

The UK is in the midst of an inflation-fuelled cost-of-living crisis and facing skills shortages across many sectors. Public services are under severe pressure, with industrial action about pay and working conditions becoming both a symptom of and a contributory factor to these growing pressures.  

Too many people continue to face discrimination and inequality in terms of employment opportunity, health and income.

...with a bold and broad vision for economic growth

Linked to many of these challenges are the long-term trends of changing demographics and the UK’s persistently poor productivity growth as firms react to developments in AI alongside a range of new and emerging technology.

Tackling these issues calls for a much bolder and broader vision and strategy for economic growth  – to show that the UK is open for business and is an attractive place to work and invest in. 

Making work fairer, healthier and more productive 

We need to make the most of the skills and potential of the UK’s diverse and ageing workforce. And we need to encourage greater investment from employers in their workforces and workplaces. This calls for a long-term strategy. Policy-makers will need to adopt new thinking and policies, organisations and people will need to adopt new ways of working, and we’ll all need to focus on improving job quality to support employee wellbeing, productivity and labour market participation.

We’re calling for a number of complementary and interdependent changes, under three key themes:

• Skilled work – we’re calling on policy-makers to ensure the education and training system creates the skills employers need and supports the creation of more high-skilled jobs.
• Healthy work – we’re calling on the UK Government to take steps to support the development of healthy work and more harmonious and productive workplaces.
• Fair work – we’re calling on policy-makers to boost labour market participation and tackle discrimination and inequalities in accesss to and progression in work. 

Harnessing the power of the people profession to drive change

The CIPD’s experts harness the insights of our 160,000-strong HR community, carry out research, and work together with a wide range of partners to understand the challenges faced by employers and how to address these. Our members and the wider people profession will be at the heart of the changes needed to evolve our workforces and workplaces, to shape jobs and roles for the future. 

On behalf of our members, we engage with government and parliamentary consultations and inquiries, we campaign and collaborate with stakeholders to influence public policy at all levels and we are a key partner for the UK Government. We sit on a range of government advisory bodies and forums and engage directly with civil servants, MPs and others on public policy and legislation relevant to the profession. 

We also directly affect employment practices through our professional standards and Code of Conduct. And we inform and influence our members and employers more widely through our research, guides and factsheets.