The aim of this study was to explore the impact of industrial policy, labour market regulation and firm strategies and practices on skills and broader employee outcomes in knowledge-intensive firms in the UK and Ireland. In the UK, the data collection comprised the following. 16 individual face-to-face interviews lasting around one hour were held with policymakers and industry representatives. A survey was distributed to general managers of firms within the two sectors, which elicited 65 responses in the pharmaceutical sector and 62 responses in the software sector. The latter was carried out in collaboration with the industry body Intellect. In addition, eight case studies were carried out within firms in the two sectors. Six of the case studies involved both individual questionnaires and face-to-face interviews, and nine involved just face-to-face interviews. In total 403 usable questionnaires were returned, and 141 interviews were conducted. 131 of these interviews have been deposited. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of industrial policy, labour market regulation and firm strategies and practices on skills and broader employee outcomes in knowledge-intensive firms in the UK and Ireland. The ESRC is funding the UK team based at Kingston University, whilst the Irish team at Dublin City University, who are conducting a parallel study, are funded by the IRCHSS. The UK and Ireland have historically adopted divergent approaches to industrial policy, potentially leading to different outcomes at the level of the firm and the individual in terms of skills, productivity, wellbeing and performance. Prior research in this area has been limited and, given the growth of employment in the sector in both economies, there are important questions about the workforce in this sector that the study will explore. The first stage will involve a comparison of relevant national-level data across the UK and Ireland, followed by eight in-depth, matched-pair case studies in firms in two key knowledge-intensive sectors in each country: pharmaceuticals and software development. The findings from these will be used to inform a survey of companies in both sectors employing 100 or more staff aimed at exploring management practices in knowledge-intensive firms.

Case studies of companies in the pharmaceutical and software sectors were formed from face-to-face interviews and employee questionnaires. Interviews (face-to-face/telephone) with industry bodies and policy makers were also carried out. Postal/self-completion questionnaires were used in a survey of the organisations. Convenience sampling, purposive selection, volunteer sampling and total universe (no sampling) were all used for different elements of this research.