history. Here in the UK the industrial age saw a rise in home workers, usually women who worked from home for an outside employer, were described as the ‘hidden workforce’ or the ‘sweated trades’ (Bythell, 1978). This type of work stood in contrast to independent, skilled craftspeople who practiced their trade from home prior to industrialisa- tion. Inequalities affected these (often unskilled) homeworkers and poor working conditions and pay were par- ticularly widespread between 1850 and 1914 across a broad range of industries, including the tailoring industry, shoe, glove and boot making and also straw plaiting and sack making (Pennington & Westover, 1989).


A hundred years later, at the beginning of another era of widespread homeworking and we are now faced with renewed questions about how this will increase inequality and for which parts of the population. Supported by digital technologies we may now have more flexibility working from home, but the pressures of for example caring for children and other family members whilst earning an income remain. A horizon scanning report published by UK Parliament in April 2021 (https://


bit.ly/3nDVhGe) highlights how little is known about current practice and the long-term impact of an increase in flexible employment. It concludes:


“The impact on health and well-being of the increase of technologies in the work- place and long-term working from home is not yet known and could have potential effects on healthcare systems. Positive benefits from increased flexible working will not be equally distributed throughout the population and could increase eco- nomic and social inequalities.” This book sets out to examine the many factors that impact on the homeworking employee and the employer, and how those change in the long term. Featuring examples of organisational transforma- tion collected over a number of years, each chapter poses questions through


l From Virtual Learning to Virtual Working: Open Leadership in practice by Dr Maren Deepwell will be pub- lished in 2022 as an Open Access publication by the Association for Learning Technology.


Extracts from the book are published monthly on Maren’s website (https:// marendeepwell.com/?page_id=3013).


which you can examine your own policies and approaches and explore practical solutions to common issues encountered by virtual teams. It presents an opportu- nity to rethink how we work, to reimagine home as a workplace for this new era of distributed working and to consider what is most important to us and how we can shape our working lives for the better. IP


Reference links


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/learning-during-the-pan- demic/learning-during-the-pandemic-review-of-research-from-eng- land#executive-summary


https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/ employmentandemployeetypes/articles/businessandindividualattitude- stowardsthefutureofhomeworkinguk/apriltomay2021


https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-03-19- gartner-hr-survey-reveals-88--of-organizations-have-e


https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/business- services/bulletins/businessinsightsandimpactontheukeconomy/latest


https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/ employmentandemployeetypes/articles/businessandindividualattitude- stowardsthefutureofhomeworkinguk/apriltomay2021


https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-07-14- gartner-survey-reveals-82-percent-of-company-leaders-plan-to-allow- employees-to-work-remotely-some-of-the-time


https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-06-22- gartner-forecasts-51-percent-of-global-knowledge-workers-will-be- remote-by-2021


https://wonkhe.com/blogs/lets-lose-the-deficit-language-about-online- education/


A landmark publication that will develop and support readers’ understanding of how information literacy research and teaching is framed, developed and produced. The Qualitative Landscape of Information Literacy Research by Annemaree Lloyd is out now.


“This is the book that information literacy researchers and practitioners have been waiting for,” – Alison Hicks, Assistant Professor and Programme Director for Library and Information Studies, UCL


Qualitative Landscape of Information Literacy Research – 9781783304059. £50 RRP. 35% discount for CILIP members. www.facetpublishing.co.uk


December 2021 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 19


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