The Employment Research Centre (ERC) is a group of researchers at Trinity College Dublin. Our research is on employment policies and practices in Ireland and Europe. Our main background is in sociology, but we see employment studies as an area of interdisciplinary research: ERC researchers have also come from business studies, economics and political science. Our projects have explored issues such as women's work in the Irish information technology sector, the role of third level education in regional development, the development of labour market flexibility within small European countries, changes in employment and the European social model.

One emerging focus is the relationship between employment and 'mobility'. Travel to work can mean the daily car commute, but also it can mean temporary or permanent migration between countries. Furthermore, travelling and working at the same time is becoming increasingly common. Given the environmental impact of much travel, this in turn links employment to questions of sustainability in novel ways, while putting the current debates on immigration in Ireland in the broader context of global migration. Current projects in this area include a study of business air travel and a large scale project of the careers and aspirations of migrants in Dublin.

The ERC carries out funded research projects usually lasting several years. Research summaries, papers and articles referring to these projects are downloadable from this web site free of charge. On this site you will also find information on our seminars and symposia. These activities promote discussion between Irish and International academics, policy makers and other relevant social actors. To encourage discussion in a wider arena we publish occasional newsletters which provide information on the state of our projects.

The ERC also carries out short-term contract research and consultancy in equal opportunities (audits and evaluations) and labour market analysis. On the teaching front, the ERC is associated with Trinity College Dublin's postgraduate researchers.

Within Trinity College Dublin we are located within the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy and associated with the Department of Sociology