Building On Sand: Why A Precarious Sector Can't Be A Resilient One

The UK’s new security strategy shifts the focus to resilience and promises a new research security strategy in time. The foundations of any resilient sector are built on the security, engagement, and development of its people. Yet, despite much attention through the research culture agenda in recent years, precarity remains prominent within the research ecosystem.

As economic security and resilience become greater priorities, is it time to accept that the consequences are not just cultural - they are structural, undermining organisational and sector resilience. As the current crisis extends, the conditions get less stable, and the sector gets less secure. 

Training and Development: Opportunity Denied 

One of the most insidious effects of precarious work is the denial of training and development to those who need it most. Research shows that fixed term and earlier career staff - often in the most precarious positions - receive significantly less formal and informal training than their permanent, more senior peers.  

This creates a vicious cycle: those in unstable roles are less likely to access the upskilling that could help them mitigate against the security risks faced by the sector. The vast majority of intellectual property leakage is unintentional. It does not occur because people want to steal from their employers. It occurs because they don’t realise that someone else is trying to. In many of the high-profile cases of intellectual property theft we have seen, the researchers themselves have lost out as much as the institution.  

Engagement, Ownership, and the Erosion of Commitment 

Precarious employees are less likely to feel engaged or emotionally invested in their work. Job insecurity and lack of organisational support lead to withdrawal behaviours -psychological or physical disengagement from work. When staff don’t feel their employer values their contribution or ‘owns’ the work they create, the sense of shared purpose and innovation evaporates and the risk of intellectual property leakage increases. It becomes easier to justify not taking the additional precautions if you aren’t being paid for the time it would take you. It can feel like fair compensation to take on whatever opportunities you can get when the institution you work for can’t provide enough. 

The Lure—and Risk—of “Too Good to Be True” Opportunities 

Moreover, precarious employment is strongly linked to higher turnover. People in insecure roles are more likely to be actively seeking other opportunities, often applying habitually - even to roles that seem “too good to be true”. In a climate of insecurity, precarious staff are especially vulnerable to fraudulent opportunities and scams. It could be an invitation to an international conference, an exciting grant scheme or a new partnership. It is understandable why some of these “opportunities” are harder to resist when your job isn’t going to exist in a few months. 

Why Precarity Undermines Resilience 

Resilience requires more than the ability to “bounce back” from shocks; it depends on the capacity to adapt, innovate, and sustain performance over time. Precarious sectors, built on a shifting foundation, simply cannot deliver this.  

If we want a resilient sector that can deliver on the research and economic security agenda, we must invest in stabilising its foundations, creating secure employment conditions, equitable access to training, and genuine staff engagement. Anything less is building on sand - guaranteeing that when the next storm comes, the structure will not stand.