Appraise the significance of long-term economic trends for work, employment: CIPD Level 7 Strategic People Management Assignment, UK

Question 4
AC 1.4 Appraise the significance of long-term economic trends for work, employment, and management practice in organizations. Over time, across the world, societies are becoming more affluent, but also more unequal.

To what extent do you agree with the view that employment practices are the cause of these trends? Justify your answer.

Pointers for students:
Introduce the answer by defining the term affluence. It would be valuable to also define social inequality, potentially considering whether inequality in respect of sex, race, and disability has a bearing. Discuss statistical evidence on rising affluence and subsequent rising inequality. Possibly briefly compare countries in terms of affluence and implications for social inequality. Choose one example such as comparisons of countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rise in discretionary expenditure, wealth distribution diagrams, real gross disposable income per head, and how some countries and groups within societies are winners and losers. Then concentrate on the UK (or your own country) and your organization or one you are Reed Company Confidential
familiar with. You may want to discuss a few implications of rising inequality such as
 the disparity between executive and employee pay,
 disposable income rising faster for higher earners than lower earners creating a wealth gap,
 premium paid for highly skilled workers,
 difference between low-quality and insecure and high-quality secure jobs.
.
What other factors could impact, e.g., rising inflation, rising property prices, individual resilience (by some people) in adapting and adjusting to tech change, together with government decisions on tax benefits, etc? Several arguments could be developed here with consideration given to the specific impact on your organization, and potential sector.

Use data to illustrate the differences and and engage the reader with evidence to help justify their argument. What internal data could be utilized versus external metrics, e.g., ONS, sector-specific, trade union, etc.?

Take a maximum of two implications of inequality to critically analyze in depth. What solutions would you suggest for people professional to implement to decrease the wealth gap?