Keynote speakers

Susan Hayter is the Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director-General at the International Labour Organization (ILO). She has had a long career as a researcher on Industrial and Labour Relations, focusing on the changing nature of work and its implications for collective labour relations and labour governance. She was the lead author of the first ILO Flagship Report on Social Dialogue 2022: Collective bargaining for an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery. She was also responsible for the report of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, Work for a Brighter Future (ILO, 2019). Additionally, she was a contributing author and editor of several volumes and articles, including Making and Breaking Gender Inequalities in the World of Work, with Prof. Mia Rönnmar (ILO and Edward Elgar, 2024); Industrial Relations in Emerging Economies: The Quest for Inclusive Development (ILO and Edward Elgar, 2018); Collective Agreements: Extending Labour Protection, with Prof. Jelle Visser (ILO, 2018) and The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy (ILO and Edward Elgar, 2011). Prior to joining the ILO, she was the Director of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa (Western and Northern Cape). She studied Industrial Relations at the London School of Economics.

Jason Heyes is a Professor of Employment Relations at Sheffield University Management School (SUMS) and director of the school’s Centre for Decent Work (CDW) research centre. His main research interest is in the connections between employment relations, political economy and public policy. His current research is focused on workers’ labour market transitions, underemployment and work intensity, skills and the governance of labour issues. He is currently leading an ESRC-funded project on ‘Young Workers Transitions in the UK Labour Market: Consequences for Careers, Earnings, Health and Wellbeing’ and is also the academic lead for the Yorkshire, Humber and North East Regional Productivity Forum, which is part of the ESRC-funded ‘The Productivity Institute’ (TPI). He has undertaken research projects for the European Trade Union Institute, the European Commission and the Low Pay Commission and has regularly acted as a research consultant for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), mainly on issues related to labour administration.

Valeria Pulignano is Professor of Sociology of work, employment (industrial) relations and labor markets and Francqui Research professor of Sociology at the Centre for Sociological Research at KU Leuven. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and a scholarly background in socio-economic studies. She is Coordinator of the RN17 Work, Employment and Industrial Relations at the European Sociological Association (ESA) and researcher at the Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT), research fellow at IRRU – Warwick University (UK) and LISER, Luxemburg. She is Editor of Work, Employment and Society and Associate Editor of the Journal of Industrial Relations and former Chief-editor of Work, Employment & Organizations (Frontiers). Valeria’s research lies in work, employment (industrial) relations and labor markets, their changing nature and implications for voice at work and inequality as differences in wages, working conditions, job quality, precarity and wellbeing across different sectors and national settings. She is PI of a ERC Advanced Grant ResPectMe and Winner of the James G. Scoville Award 2015 from LERA and she holds a Chair Jacques Leclerq at UCL. She has a forthcoming book with OUP on The Politics of Unpaid Labour. How can Unpaid Labour help to address inequality in Precarious Work. Among her recent books Shifting Solidarities. (2020, Palgrave-MacMillan) with I. Van Hoyweghen and G. Meyers; Reconstructing Solidarity (2018, Oxford University Press) with V. Doellgast and N. Lillie.

Adrian Wilkinson is Distinguished Professor of Human Resource Management and Employment Relations at Griffith University. He was Founding Director of the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing at Griffith University (2006 to 2020). Adrian studied at the LSE and Durham University and worked at the Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, and Loughborough University, where he was Professor of Human Resource Management and also served as Director of Research for the Business School. Adrian is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in the UK and Australia. Adrian has authored/co-authored/edited 30 books and more than 200 articles in academic journals. Books include ‘Developing Positive Employment Relations: International Experiences of Labour Management Partnerships’ (Palgrave, 2016) ; ‘A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Employment Relations’ , (Sage 2017) , The Routledge Companion to Employment Relations ‘ (Routledge ,2018) ; ‘The Sage Handbook of Human Resource Management ‘ (Sage, 2019) , ‘The Future of Work and Employment ‘ (Elgar, 2020) The ‘Handbook of Research on Employee Voice’ (Elgar, 2020) , “Human Resource Management: a very short introduction ” (Oxford University Press ,2022) ‘Human Resource Management at Work’,(Kogan Page ,2024) ‘Contemporary Human Resource Management’ (Sage,2024).