Working Lives Scotland

Working Lives Scotland is the CIPD’s annual benchmark on job quality in Scotland. Based on the  seventh annual UK Working Lives survey, we survey over 1,000 workers from different sectors and occupations about key aspects of their work and employment to offer evidence-based insights for people professionals, employers and policy-makers to improve work and working lives.

The CIPD's Working Lives Scotland report examines how people work in Scotland and what they think about it. We capture and map our data to the five dimensions of 'fair work' specific to the framework set up by the Fair Work Convention. These five dimensions are:

Respect
Security
Opportunity
Fufilment
Effective voice.

Latest findings

In our latest research, workplace conflict emerged as the central focus of analysis. Over a quarter of workers (28%) in Scotland experienced conflict at work over the past year, with most choosing not to report it. Experiencing workplace conflict was linked to lower job satisfaction, poorer mental health, and poorer relationships with their managers.

The findings also revealed signs of public sector employees growing increasingly detached from their jobs, with a higher proportion saying their job is just a way of earning money and no more. Meanwhile, gaps in skills development particularly for those on lower incomes remained high.

Our report provides details of these and other findings along with insight and recommendations to help people professionals, employers and policy-makers understand the issues and take action to improve outcomes for individuals, organisations and the economy.

The Scotland sample comprises 1,006 respondents of the total 5,496 employees across the UK.

Download our latest report below