"Purpose
To provide an overview of the most important trends in work and employment over the past fifity years.

Design/methodology/approach
The article adopted the fifity year perspective in line with the celebration of Manchester Industral Relations Society's fiftieth anniversary. The approach adopted was to include both observable changes in work and employment and changes in the perspectives found in published research.

Findings
The key trends identiifed were feminisation, flexibilisation, fragmentation and financialisation. There were the outcome of both global trends towards services, globalisation and th e spread of transformative technologies and the outcome of political choices to deregulate, decollectivise and depoliticise the employment relationship.

Originality/value
The value lies in exploring the key trends in the world of work over a sigfnicant period of time, identifying the drivers behind the changes and reflecting on the implications for future prospects in work and employment."

Support: Digital