https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/london-policy-amp-strategy-network-31019071129

1. March 22
@resfoundation
Workertech Partnership
London Policy & Strategy Network
Louise Marston
Director of Ventures, Resolution Foundation
15 March 2022

2. • What is the Workertech Partnership?
• What do we want to change?
• How are we doing that?
• What’s next
2
What I’ll cover
@resfoundation

3. 3
The Workertech Partnership: a 3 year programme of social
investment and ecosystem building
@resfoundation
Worker
wellbeing
Worker voice &
power
Building skills &
opportunities
Better choices
at work

4. 4
What do we want to change?
Education &
Training
Work
Not working
‘Better’ work
Access
training
Job search
Careers
advice
Promotion
Negotiation
pay prospects power progression
Individual
action
Collective
action

5. • Low-paid workers, or those with limited prospects
• Insecure workers: those on zero-hours contracts, temporary
contracts, the self-employed, gig workers, workers in insecure
conditions.
• Workers lacking voice & representation and those at greater
risk of discrimination
• Workers with lower-level qualifications, and/or limited access
to training
5
The focus is on those in low paid and insecure work
@resfoundation

6. • Underemployment – working fewer hours than they would like
• Insecure contracts – zero-hours, agency work, temp contracts
• Less training
• Fewer legal protections – e.g. statutory sick pay, unfair
dismissal rights
• Underpaid the minimum wage
• No paid holiday
• Health & safety concerns
6
Low-paid workers are more likely to experience other forms of
disadvantage
@resfoundation

7. 7
Characteristics of digital technology
@resfoundation
Provide
information
Create
Connection
Increase
convenience

8. 8
What can Workertech do?
Education &
Training
Work
Not working
‘Better’ work
Access
training
Job search
Careers
advice
Promotion
Negotiation
pay prospects power progression
search
& match
provision
of skills
aggregate
worker
voice
close
information
gaps
worker-to-worker
communication
remove
restrictions on
worker choices

9. 9
There are individual and collective routes to change through
Workertech
@resfoundation
Employer product
or service
Worker product or
service
Ventures offer
alternative
employment
Venture platform or
community
Offer employee
benefits or changes
Used by workers to
make choices
Offers different
terms to workers
Brings workers
together to create
change
Better work for
employees
Moves workers to
better employers &
better work
Attracts workers
from other
employers
Change in
employer offer
Creates cover for
action by
regulators and
legislation
Raise
the
ceiling
Raise
the
ceiling
Unions
Unions
Lift the
floor
Lift the
floor
Lift the
floor
Raises employer
offer across a
sector
Raise
the
ceiling

10. Good work
measures
Routes to improvement through Workertech Venture examples
Earnings Worker petitions and campaigns; better choice on jobs;
greater income transparency for self-employment
Organise
Terms of
Employment
Better information on work and conditions; campaigns
and organising
Breakroom, Labour
xchange
Job design & nature
of work
Training guidance & routes to progress; Tendo, Upskill Me
Representation and
voice
Community networks Organise, Worker
Feedback Club
Work-life balance Tracking hours and wellbeing Workerbird
Wellbeing and social
support
Wellbeing communities; training Curo Carers
10
Good Work measures
@resfoundation

11. Pay
Income or salary
Prospects
Improved future
potential
Progression
Improvement within
existing career/role
Power
Collective or individual
Improved conditions
Connected Understanding of
ways to increase
income
Visibility of
opportunities
Accessed skills
assessment
Becoming a
member
Joining a group
Improved Work experience
completed
Complete training
module
Complete skills
assessment
Work experience
completed
Active
membership
Action taken in a
campaign
Transformed New job
Pay increase
Re-entering
education
Completing
significant training
New job
Promotion
Significant
improvement in
conditions
11
Aggregating impact across ventures: impact on beneficiaries
@resfoundation
Depth
of
impact
Type of impact

12. @resfoundation 12
How are we doing that?
Investing in Innovators
Sharing insight and
Intelligence
Communicating issues and
impact
Developing the Workertech
Ecosystem

13. 13
There are two investment routes in the current programme
Tech for Good Programme
Call for Ideas 13 June
£30k investment, 12 week
programme
Direct Investment
Pre-seed and seed stage
£30k-£70k
Workertech Ecosystem
Events Meetup Research Newsletter

14. • More events and convening
• Research into Lived Experience of workers
• Developing Impact measurement and monitoring
• Get in touch: Ventures@ResolutionFoundation.org
@louisemarston
14
What comes next
@resfoundation

15. 15
WorkerTech Portfolio
@resfoundation
Worker Feedback Club is a workforce engagement
platform that gives contractors direct insight into
worker experience through digital channels, and a
way to reward workers for the contributions they
make to site culture.
Breakroom is a people-powered job comparison site
for hourly work. It helps workers compare their jobs
to find out if they’re getting a good deal at work.
CareerEar is an online platform helping career-
seekers from underserved groups to make career
choices and prepare for the future of work. It
integrates labour market data and skills frameworks,
to provide personalised advice to career seekers.
Ikigai Data is a careers data and insights company.
Its key product is JobFit: a SaaS platform for
education institutions to advance and track alumni
employment outcomes.
Curo is a digital carer coach that guides unpaid
carers through a personalised curriculum of support
along their caring journey.
TaskHer is an online platform which empowers users
to find, book and pay experienced tradeswomen,
whilst addressing the gender imbalance in the trades
industry.
Every day people use Organise to transform their
working lives — directly inside their workplaces and
through campaigning nationally. There are now over a
million workers taking action with Organise.
Upskill Me allows young people to earn points towards
digital-skills badges and showcase their
achievements, helping them to develop life skills that
will set them apart for their future careers.
Talia is the first pension designed for women’s
lifepaths with three pillars: Learn: guidance on how
your decisions affect retirement. Track: Talia calculates
your pension ‘salary’ and, Grow: novel ways to top-up
e.g. cashback for low earners.
Over the last eight years Indycube has worked to
provide freelancers, micro-businesses, remote
workers and the self-employed with co-working
spaces in which to work, so that they can live and
thrive in their communities.