The Work Foundation has created a panel of inquiry to look at improving the
quality of working life and productivity in the UK.
Launched by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt, the year-long Work
and Enterprise Inquiry will consider high-productivity workplaces in the UK
that incorporate effective work-life balance for staff, with the aim of
producing best practice guidance.
Work Foundation chief executive Will Hutton said the major challenge facing
the UK is to close its long-standing productivity deficit while improving the
quality of British working life.
"The Panel of Inquiry will examine these two aims, sometimes presented
as conflicting, to establish robust recommendations as to how they can best be
married together. The encouraging level of private sector interest in the
inquiry indicates the urgency of the problem and the business community’s
concern to find solutions in this area."
The panel also includes head of research John Knell, chief economist Rebecca
Harding and Margaret Wheeler of Unison.
