I am Principal Investigator and Co-Director for the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (2020-2024), together with Professor Mark Stuart.
I joined the University of Sussex Business School in 2017 as Professor of Comparative Human Resource Management and I am the UK lead on the EU Horizon 2020 EUROSHIP project on social protection in Europe (2020-23).
Background
After completing my doctorate at Nuffield College, University of Oxford on an Anglo-French comparison of employment practices in the banking sector, I worked for ten years at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB), Germany. I have also held teaching and research posts at Sciences Politiques in Paris, and at London, Manchester and Brighton Universities in the UK. In 2000, I was awarded a Jean Monnet Research Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence and appointed Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2019.
The ESRC, the Leverhulme Trust, the European Commission, the European Science Foundation and Santander Bank have funded my research. This includes coordinating a EU FP7 funded large-scale research project STYLE: Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe (www.style-research.eu) (2014-17) and being the UK lead on the EU Horizon 2020 project NEGOTIATE on Overcoming early job-insecurity in Europe (www.negotiate-research.eu) (2015-18).
Currently, I am on the editorial board of Zeitschrift für Sozialreform (De Gruyter) University of Bremen, Germany. I have provided consultation services to HM Treasury, Full Employment Team and the UK Cabinet Office Open Innovation Unit; I am an Evaluation Rapporteur for the European Commission Horizon 2020 research programme. Formerly, I have acted as an advisor to the ILO Work4Youth programme funded by The MasterCard Foundation; and twice as an evaluator for the German Excellence Initiative of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (€151 million investment).
Research interests
My most recent research focuses on
- the digital transformation of work
- international comparisons in political economy
- gender and ethnic labour market transitions across the life cycle for youth, parents and older workers.
Recent publications
Journal articles
Towards privatized social and employment protections in the platform economy? Evidence from the UK courier sector
Rolf, S., O'Reilly, J., Meryon, M. (2022), Research policy
Adapting social protection to the needs of multiple jobholders in Denmark, the United Kingdom and Germany
Jerg, L., O'Reilly, J. and Schulze Buschoff, K. (2021) Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research
Digit working papers
Rapid recruitment in retail: Leveraging AI in the hiring of hourly paid frontline associates during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Hunt, W. and O'Reilly, J. (2022), Digit Working Paper No. 3
Innovation Work Chains in US Retail: Automation, Tracking and AI Adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic
Stopford, N. and O'Reilly, J. (2022), Digit Working Paper No. 2
Measuring the size, characteristics and consequences of digital work
Verdin, R. and O'Reilly, J. (2022), Digit Working Paper No. 1
Policy publications
Digital entrepreneurship on retail platforms: A way to formalise employment for young people in Nigeria and the UK
Aymikun Idowu, Monica Richards and Jacqueline O'Reilly (2023), International Organisation of Employers
A Gender Agenda for the Future of Work in a Digital Age of Pandemics: jobs, skills and contracts
Verdin, R. and O'Reilly, J. (2021), Institute of Economics and Social Research (WSI)
Digit Blogs
Retail employment and automation: good or bad for jobs?
How will investment in technologies such as robotics, tracking technologies and Artificial Intelligence affect employment in the retail sector?
‘Walsmart’: when AI hits the shop floor
A new AI-hiring system at Walmart was designed to speed up recruitment and reduce bias, but would hiring managers be willing to put their faith in the AI to choose the right person for the job?
Social media platforms for digital retail in Africa: an alternative to online retail platforms for young people
Why young people in Nigeria seeking to earn money by selling second hand clothing prefer social media to digital retail platforms.
Can digital resale clothing platforms provide a stable income for young people in the UK?
Some online marketplaces emphasise environmentally sustainable and inclusive practices but does this translate into material differences in the nature of work?
Report
Employers’ Digital Practices at Work Survey: First Findings
Mark Stuart, Danat Valizade, Felix Schulz, Brendan Burchell, Richard Dickens and Jacqueline O'Reilly (2023)
Other publications
Research articles
O’Reilly, J., Grotti, R., and Russell, H. (2019) ‘Are some sectors more ‘youth friendly’ than others? Employment regimes, sectors and gender disparities in the Great Recession’ Human Resource Management Journal 29(3): 490-508 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1748-8583.12242
Sánchez-Mira, N., & O’Reilly, J. (2019). ‘Household Employment and the Crisis in Europe.’ Work, Employment and Society, 33(3): 422-443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017018809324
Zuccotti, C. V., & O’Reilly, J. (2019). Ethnicity, Gender and Household Effects on Becoming NEET: An Intersectional Analysis. Work, Employment and Society, 33(3), 351–373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017017738945
Zuccotti, C. V., & O’Reilly, J. (2019). The impact of youth labour market experiences on later employment opportunities: What roles do ethnicity and gender play? Human Relations, 72(4): 646–674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718782603
Ayllón, S., M. Bussi, J. O’Reilly, M. A. Schøyen and I. Tolgensbakk (2019) ‘Drug use and early job insecurity’ in B. Hvinden, J. O’Reilly, M. A. Schøyen & C. Hyggen (eds.) Negotiating Early Job Insecurity: Well-being, Scarring and Resilience of European Youth (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar). https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788118781/9781788118781.00017.xml
Books
Hvinden, B., J. O’Reilly, M. A. Schøyen & C. Hyggen (eds.) (2019) Negotiating Early Job Insecurity: Well-being, Scarring and Resilience of European Youth (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar). https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/negotiating-early-job-insecurity Also available open access https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788118781/9781788118781.xml
O’Reilly, J., Leschke, J., Ortlieb, R., Seeleib-Kaiser, M. and Villa, P. (2019) (eds.) Youth Labor in Transition: Inequalities, Mobility and Policies in Europe (New York: Oxford University Press). https://global.oup.com/academic/product/youth-labor-in-transition-9780190864798?cc=gb&lang=en& Also available open access http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190864798.001.0001/oso-9780190864798
Neufeind, M., J. O’Reilly and F. Ranft (2018) (eds.) ‘Work in the Digital Age: Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (London: Rowman and Littlefield). https://policynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Work-in-the-Digital-Age.pdf
O’Reilly, J., C. Moyart, T. Nazio and M. Smith (2018) (eds.) ‘Youth Employment: the STYLE Handbook’ (Bristol: Policy Press). https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/youth-employment Also available open access Ebook – http://style-handbook.eu/
New report on digital retail platforms with the International Organisation of Employers
Digit researchers have authored a new report on the opportunities for entrepreneurship afforded to young people by digital retail platforms.
Digit researchers contribute to OECD report on AI in manufacturing and finance
Digit researchers have contributed to a new OECD report examining the impact of AI on workplaces in the finance and manufacturing sectors.
House of Lords Committee cites Digit associate fellow’s evidence
The written evidence was submitted for the inquiry 'Designing a public workforce fit for the future'.
Digit co-director presents at techUK’s Exploring the Future of Work Series
Jackie O'Reilly participated in a panel for an event on The rise of the gig economy organised by techUK
Digit researchers present at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting
They participated in a special session discussing ‘The Future of Retail Work: Power and Voice after the E-commerce Revolution and the Pandemic’.
Digit researchers at the SASE 2022 conference
Digit researchers discussed their work at the SASE cofnerence, 9-11 July 2022 in Amsterdam.
Digit Co-Director to give keynote at BAM HR Management conference
Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly will be a keynote speaker at the BAM Human Resource Management SIG International Symposium in June 2022.
Digit researchers present findings at CIPD conference
Digit Research Fellow Dr Wil Hunt discussed research exploring the use of AI-assisted technology in the hiring system of a large retail firm.
“It’s not the tech, it’s how it’s used”
Digit's Co-Director, Professor Jacqueline O'Reilly has been quoted in an article in the Guardian discussing the effect of technology-enabled home working on equality and inclusion.
From Emergency to Empowerment – special Soldo report featuring Digit researchers
A new Special Report from Soldo discussing the future of hybrid-remote working
More trust, less fuss!
Digit Co-Director Prof. Jackie O'Reilly discusses remote working in this interview with Soldo.
Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly delivers keynote speech to the Nesta conference
Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly delivered a keynote speech to yesterday's NESTA conference on 'Working Better: Using data and design to create an inclusive, future-oriented system for jobs and skills’.
Labour Party Conference fringe event
Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly spoke at an event hosted by the Women and Work All Party Parliamentary Group and the University of Sussex Business School on tackling gender inequality in business and entrepreneurship.