The SQS currently has four Working Groups the task of which is the:
- In progress – Formalisation of Global Stratotype section and Points (GSSP) for the Lower/Middle and for the Middle/Upper subseries/subepoch boundaries of the Pleistocene Series/Epoch. The formal nomenclature for the subseries/subepoch divisions of the Pleistocene will be Lower/Early, Middle/Mid-, and Upper/Late.
- November 2008 – Formalisation of a GSSP for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch.
- June 2009 – A new working group was established to examine the possibility of recognising an Anthropocene division either within the Holocene or separated from it.
- November 2009 – A new working group is currently being established to determine the utility of formally defining short-term events during glacial periods.
- December 2010 – January 2011 The Holocene working group, under the leadership of Professor Mike Walker, will remain constituted to examine the potential utility of possible formal subdivision of the series. More information on this matter will be available shortly.