Guest editors
- Patrice Jalette, School of Industrial Relations, Université de Montréal
- Jean Charest, School of Industrial Relations, Université de Montréal
- Vassil Kirov, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The goal of this special issue is to provide an opportunity for researchers to advance theoretical reflection and provide empirical evidence to better understand the repercussions of labour/skills shortages and scarcity on IR and HRM in unionized and/or nonunionized workplaces. In other words, this special issue focuses on how social actors - workers, employers, unions, sectoral bodies and states - deal with a lack of labour and skills. Submissions to this Special Issue, which enter into dialogue with existing theories about these impacts and arising adaptations and which present credible empirical evidence will be privileged.
Deadline for submissions: February 28th, 2025
You can upload you manuscript directly on our platform through the following link.
The theme of this Special Issue can be approached from various angles, including the following:
- The collective bargaining strategies developed by labour and management in the context of labour/skills shortages and how it affected the dynamics of the process (bargaining power, conflicts, etc.);
- The innovative policy and practices adopted by social actors to deal with the scarcity of labour/skills and designed to improve employment conditions, to seek external resources, to optimize the use of resources already in employment, to invest in vocational training and so forth;
- The impact of understaffed workplaces on social dynamics and outcomes, work organization and conditions, and HR and labour relations management;
- The outcomes and implications of public or industrial policies designed to address the problems arising from tight labour markets;
- The analytical comparison of skills/labour shortages according to sectors or occupations in one or more countries, the specific challenges to be met, and the responses developed by the social actors;
- The constraints and opportunities that labour/skills scarcity and shortages represent for trade unions (development and organising, solidarity, priorities, etc.) or other forms of collective representation (works councils) as well as employers organisations (delivering services expected by companies, priorities, etc.).
We hope to receive submissions to expand knowledge about the implications of labour/skills shortages in a range of countries, industries and occupations and how these might differ across institutional context and time.