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Authored by Anna Kallschmidt on behalf of Dr. Christian Seubert and Dr. Lisa Hopfgartner

ICT has also drastically changed the world of work, shifting “normal” employment to “atypical”. Continue reading The Subjective Experience of Work-Related Precariousness: Why it Matters

Authored by Anna Kallschmidt

Some international clothing brands such as H&M, Continental Clothing and Mini Rodini have committed to paying workers a living wage. While the companies plan to expand their mission, critics argue that there are many barriers preventing organizations from implementing livable wages for supplier factories’ employees in developing countries. These obstacles include increasing the cost of products for customers, decreasing rates of employment, and increasing the replacement of workers with automation.

This dilemma is especially salient in the Indian garment export sector, where inequalities are so drastic that some workers have reported a month’s wages could not purchase a garment they created. Even so, the garment factor has proven vital to India’s economic growth. While research on living wages has grown in the United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand, developing countries are drastically under researched. GLOW researcher Dr. Bimal Arora has proposed a study to examine the perspectives on living wages and the capabilities for them in this sector.  Continue reading Can a Living Wage Improve Production?

Authored by Anna Kallschmidt

The opposition to increase wages to be “livable” is actually not always heartless. While it may be shocking that some disagree that paying people well enough to afford basic needs (such as healthcare), a major concern that many opposers have is that increasing wages will make employees so unaffordable that they will actually lose their jobs.

When employers have to pay their employees more, they are concerned they will lose profit. This perception has had a devastating impact on low-wage workers; for example, when Wendy’s increased their minimum wage, they also eliminated 31 hours of labor per location every week.

Fortunately, GLOW researcher Dr. Molefe Maleka discovered there is a benefit to employers for retaining employees who are paid a livable wage.  Continue reading How to Raise Wages Without Increasing Unemployment

Authored by Anna Kallschmidt

If you remember from our first post, Project GLOW has partnered with the United Nations to use organizational science to address the Sustainable Development Goals…but what has the GLOW community contributed since then? GLOW researcher Dr. Charles Tchagneno’s recent dissertation research contributes to these goals by  investigating how people in developing countries decide to engage in programs that will help them leave low-wage jobs.  Continue reading How to Engage Informal Workers in Work Restructuring Programs