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Open research questions in Employment and Welfare Studies

349 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 2,874 Employment and Welfare Studies papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • The paper identifies a gap in understanding how frontline workers exercise their judgment in realizing safety mandates. It notes that prior research has overlooked the role of frontline workers in maintaining safety in complex systems. The study highlights the need to consider the occupational authority of frontline workers in upholding a societal mandate for safety.

    “The eyes and ears of the railway”: How frontline workers uphold safety through their occupational expertise and embodied epistemic authority · 2025 · DOI

  • Stigma and negative reactions to disclosure. Structural and cultural barriers to workplace inclusion. The need to balance disclosure with universal support to create inclusive environments.

    Moving beyond disclosure: rethinking universal support for neurodivergent employees · 2025 · DOI

  • The existing research focuses on disclosure as the primary means of supporting neurodivergent employees. However, disclosure alone may not be enough to address the structural and cultural challenges neurodivergent individuals face at work. There is a need to explore strategies beyond disclosure to create inclusive environments.

    Moving beyond disclosure: rethinking universal support for neurodivergent employees · 2025 · DOI

  • The lack of advanced search functionalities and parameter filters in the Publications Office of the EU database limited the comprehensiveness of the retrieval, - The high volume of 'out of scope' results may have affected the comprehensiveness of the retrieval, - The OpenGrey database was not searched in its entirety

    Hidden hunger in Europe: a review on determinants, fragmented policy responses, and implementation barriers · 2025 · DOI

  • The lack of coordinated action across sectors to address micronutrient malnutrition. The existence of fragmented regulatory frameworks and inconsistent implementation of policy responses. The need for more equity-oriented and evidence-based public health strategies to address micronutrient deficiencies.

    Hidden hunger in Europe: a review on determinants, fragmented policy responses, and implementation barriers · 2025 · DOI

  • The hospitality industry faces significant challenges in implementing the Fair and Decent Work Agenda, including resistance from employers and limited enforcement mechanisms. The industry's labour practices are often exploitative, making it challenging to address issues like worker exploitation and modern slavery. The paper identifies the need for robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with labour laws and protect workers' rights effectively.

    Working Conditions in the Hospitality Industry: The Case for a Fair and Decent Work Agenda · 2024 · DOI

  • The existing literature has given limited attention to pressing issues such as labour exploitation, modern slavery, and forced labour within the hospitality industry. There is a need for comprehensive policy reforms to enhance wage standards, ensure reliable work schedules, and improve working conditions. The paper identifies a gap in the implementation of the Fair and Decent Work Agenda, despite its adoption on the global, regional, and country level.

    Working Conditions in the Hospitality Industry: The Case for a Fair and Decent Work Agenda · 2024 · DOI

  • However, relatively little is known about the specific groups of workers that are most likely to work from home post-pandemic.

    Who worked from home after the pandemic · 2026 · DOI

  • The heterogeneity indicates a need for further research into the mechanisms by which performance pay impacts mental health.

    Performance Pay and Mental Health: Differences by Pay Scheme · 2026 · DOI

  • The synthesis further shows that interventions focused solely on individual coping are insufficient when occupational stress originates from structural and organizational working conditions.

    Employment Quality as a Determinant of Occupational Stress and Worker Well-Being in Transforming Contemporary Labor Markets · 2026 · DOI

  • Since 2022, quiet quitting has captured widespread public and scholarly attention, yet its causes remain poorly understood.

    Quiet Quitting in America: An Empirical Assessment of Three Explanations · 2026 · DOI

  • Moreover, the mechanisms that link procedural justice to mental health remain underexplored.

    Voiceless at Work: Decision-Making Participation, Subjective Power, and Mental Health in a Pandemic · 2025 · DOI

  • Prior research on procedural justice and mental health has paid limited attention to the specific effect of voice, and few studies have used longitudinal designs that control for unobserved time-stable confounders.

    Voiceless at Work: Decision-Making Participation, Subjective Power, and Mental Health in a Pandemic · 2025 · DOI

  • Despite a surge of research on micro-breaks in recent years, the interactional nature of this recovery behavior during working hours still needs to be explored.

    Recharging for the future: how micro-breaks shape work prospection among Chinese employees · 2025 · DOI

  • This highlights the need for further research into what interventions entail and their benefits.

    Support for staff wellbeing and development when working in prisons: a narrative rapid evidence review · 2025 · DOI

  • Peer and line manager support was prominent with limited evidence of formal interventions supporting people working in prison.

    Support for staff wellbeing and development when working in prisons: a narrative rapid evidence review · 2025 · DOI

  • However, results were mixed, with some areas only seeing incremental adjustments due to resistance from vested interests and institutional veto players operating along the country's multi‐level governance of LTC.

    Reforming Long‐Term Care Provision and Work in Post‐Pandemic Times: Scope and Drivers of Policy Change in the Spanish Decentralised System · 2025 · DOI

  • These data will further various welfare state and social policy research agendas, in particular in the area of work‐injury policy which is often understudied in comparison to other social security policies.

    Measuring and Harmonising Coverage, Generosity and History of Work‐Injury Policies Globally · 2025 · DOI

  • While public sector employees differ from private sector employees in important aspects, limited knowledge exists regarding what accounts for these differences.

    Does the Sector of Employment Matter? A Study of Employee Absenteeism in Public, Nonprofit, and For-Profit Organizations · 2025 · DOI

  • 6% reported that their monthly income was insufficient for their needs, with 77% reducing necessary expenses to manage finances and 77.

    Examining the economic burden and mental health distress among government school teachers in Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional study · 2025 · DOI

  • BACKGROUND: Mental health disorders remain underexplored among civil servants in Nigeria, a group exposed to economic hardship and family responsibilities.

    Depression, anxiety and job dissatisfaction: consequences of economic hardship in a lower middle-income country · 2025 · DOI

  • However, little is known about the lived experiences of unemployment among these professionals.

    Exploring the unemployment crisis among speech therapists and audiologists in South Africa: perspectives on institutional roles, professional bodies, and the path to job creation · 2025 · DOI

  • Few studies have analyzed the extent of remote workers’ absenteeism, presenteeism and working outside agreed hours during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Remote Workers’ Reasons for Changed Levels of Absenteeism, Presenteeism and Working Outside Agreed Hours During the COVID-19 Pandemic · 2024 · DOI

  • The topic is scarcely discussed in Latin American countries, which could benefit from it since the population of these countries faces several social and economic challenges, such as poor minimum wages (MWs), inflation and high poverty levels, even among employed people.

    Living Wages in Latin America: An Assessment of Disparities and a Stakeholder Roadmap for Action · 2024 · DOI

  • Abstract Although active labor market policies often subsidize unemployed individuals to start their own businesses, little is known about the role of unemployment insurance (UI) generosity for self-employment.

    The Effect of Unemployment Insurance Benefits on (Self-)Employment: Two Sides of the Same Coin? · 2024 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Employment and Welfare Studies

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349 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 2,874 Employment and Welfare Studies papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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