From June 21 to 24, the 19th International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) World Congress was held online, jointly organized by the Swedish ILERA and Lund University. A total of 859 participants from around the world registered for the conference and formed over 100 thematic sessions for discussions. Associate Professor Ye Ying from the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources at the CULR, Dr. Gao Xueyuan from the School of Business Administration, and students Zhang Xuerong, Li Guangsheng, Jiang Ziyu, and Li Diming were invited to attend the conference (with Dr. Hu Nan from the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources as the supervisor of student papers) and presented their papers in various group sessions.

The theme of this conference was "Making and Breaking Boundaries in Work and Employment Relations", with Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Eva Nordmark, Minister of Employment of Sweden, and Mia Rönnmar, President of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association, attending the conference and delivering opening speeches. The conference proposed that boundaries were key to the future of work and employment relations. More and more people and companies were crossing borders, and the pandemic posed a threat to this mobility, necessitating renegotiation of boundaries between humans and machines, work and personal life, employment and other forms of work. In addition, key factors such as globalization, protectionism, pandemics, climate change and green economy, digitalization and automation, inequality and struggles for decent and sustainable work, gender equality and diversity, population aging and inter-generational tensions were reshaping global work and employment relations.

     

     

     

During the conference, Associate Professor Ye Ying gave a presentation on "Protection of Labor Rights and Interests in Remote Work in China", defining the types of remote work in China, analyzing the current situation of labor rights protection in remote work in China, and discussing strategies for balancing labor relations in new work patterns in China. Dr. Gao Xueyuan presented on "The Impact of Employee Mission on Innovative Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model", based on self-regulation theory and focusing on employees in high-tech companies in China, which explored the relationship between mission and innovative performance. Zhang Xuerong and four other students presented papers on topics such as "Analysis of Emotional Marketing Behavior of E-commerce Platform Customer Service Personnel - A Grounded Analysis Based on the Theory of Labor Process Control", "Attribution Study on Factors Influencing Happiness of College Students from the Perspective of Grounded Research", "Factors Influencing Behavioral Intention of Online Job Seekers - A Grounded Research Based on Social Media Discourse", and "New Technology and Labor - A Case Study Based on Foxconn Technology Group". They also engaged in in-depth discussions with other participants on their respective paper topics. Scholars from various countries crossed disciplinary boundaries, integrated different dimensions, and delved into hot and challenging issues in working and employment relations in developing and developed economies.

This was the first time that students from the CULR submitted papers and were invited to participate in a world academic event, marking a milestone event. Through in-depth exchanges with scholars in the field of labor and employment relations, the students showcased the academic style of the CULR to the world. At the same time, this participation further enhanced the international reputation of the CULR, expanded its international influence in related academic research fields, and is of great significance for the future international academic exchange and cooperation work of our university.

The International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) was formerly known as the International Industrial Relations Association (IIRA). Established in 1966, it has 48 member countries, with China regaining its member country status in 2009, represented by the China Association for Labour Studies. In 2010, the association was renamed the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA). In recent years, the association has focused on emerging issues such as international labor migration, non-standard labor, labor market regulation, trade and labor standards, employment discrimination, and the future of work. The 19th ILERA World Congress continued this tradition, with international scholars paying close attention to the impact of the digital economy on the future of the labor world, emphasizing algorithmic management norms, and calling for innovative changes to the existing labor standards system by international labor organizations to lay the foundation for sustainable development.

(International Office of Cooperation and Exchange)