What makes work decent? Secure employment? Fair pay? The chance to contribute, learn and live with dignity?
These questions have guided my research for the past two decades. In a world where job insecurity, informal work and inequality are widespread, the concept of “decent work” feels more urgent than ever—but also more complex.
Decent work is not just about having a job. It’s about whether people have the freedom and security to make choices about their lives—whether they feel safe, respected and able to plan for the future. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has developed an agenda for the community of work that looks at job creation, rights at work, social protection, and social dialogue, with gender equality as a cross-cutting objective.
However, achieving those aims is increasingly complex. Globally, more than 60% of workers are in informal employment. That means no contract, no protection and often no reliable income. These roles may be invisible in policy terms, but they are the reality for most of the world’s working population.
In my discipline – work and organisational psychology – I’ve been working to connect these structural and economic factors with the psychological dimensions of decent work: autonomy, dignity, meaning and voice. It’s not just about what people are paid. It’s about whether work enables people to flourish.
With several collaborators from trade unions, international non-governmental organisations and frontline practitioners, I’ve brought together research and real-world perspectives from Australia, China, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the USA and beyond in the forthcoming Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Decent Work. Reflecting the complexity of decent work today, the handbook draws on disciplines including psychology, economics, law and human resource management. Together, these voices offer a grounded view of how decent work is defined, delivered and experienced in different cultural and economic contexts. The themes explored in the handbook connect with my research through Project Fair, which explores what fairness at work looks like in international non-governmental organisations (INGOs)—global bodies delivering aid, development and advocacy. The project examines the psychological impact of dual salaries in the INGO sector on employee motivation, performance, retention, learning and teamwork.
I also lead the Decent Work Strand of the EAWOP Impact Incubator through the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology. One of our key tools is Superb Market, a free interactive game that puts players in the role of a human resource manager in a supermarket. They see the impact on staff wellbeing and performance as they make decisions about pay, contracts and conditions. Designed for educators, employers and policymakers, the game brings abstract concepts of decent work to life, enabling insights into the experiences of those in low-wage work and prompts practical discussion about fairness at work.
With rising cost of living and job insecurity growing, decent work is no longer a peripheral issue. It’s central to how we build sustainable economies and fairer societies. I hope that this research helps us move from broad goals to grounded, practical action.
This July, Dr McWha-Hermann and collaborators shared insights from the forthcoming handbook at two symposia at the ILO’s Regulating for Decent Work (RDW) 2025 Conference.
Ishbel McWha-Hermann is our Personal Chair of Work and Organisational Psychology and Deputy Director (Academic) of the MBA Programme.