WeLaR project conference May 23, 2024r in Leuven.
May 28 2024
On 23rd of May, the conference of project WeLaR took place in Leuven brining researchers working on topics related to the impact of globalization, technological, climate and demographic changes on the labor market. Karol Madoń and Wojciech Szymczak from IBS presented their findings during the conference.
The conference was the first opportunity to share the research results of the WeLaR project, funded by HORIZONT EUROPA. IBS is one of 10 partners participating in the project. The goal of the project is to understand the ongoing changes in the labor market and the resulting necessary changes in public policy.
Karol Madoń presented the article “The role of Global Value Chains for workers’ tasks and wage inequality.” Its co-authors are Piotr Lewandowski (IBS) and Deborah Winkler (World Bank). The study assesses the relationship between participation in the global supply chain and labor routinization and its impact on income inequality in countries at different levels of economic development. Participation in the global supply chain translates into lower levels of income inequality in most of the countries surveyed. The exceptions are the richest countries.
Wojciech Szymczak presented the article “Technology adoption, trade unions and involuntary atypical employment,” co-authored by Piotr Lewandowski (IBS). The results of the survey showed that the increase in the use of technology could lead to a wider coverage of workers in non-standard forms of employment – part-time and temporary work. Further exploration of the problem showed that the groups so far most often subjected to non-standard employment – in particular women, people with middle and lower education – are most at risk of a reduction in the quality of work. However, the negative impact of technology can be reduced with strong worker representation in labor unions.
The WeLaR project conference also included a keynote lecture, presented by Professor. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak (SGH), who presented proposed solutions for reducing the negative impact of globalization, technological, demographic and climate change on the labor market.
