The Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) is an MIT-wide multidisciplinary
research and educational unit located within MIT Sloan and MIT’s Engineering
Systems Division. Since its establishment in 1937 (as the MIT Industrial
Relations Section), IWER has conducted research devoted to the full range
of issues related to work, labor and employment relations, human resource
management, labor market issues, and related public policies. Participating
faculty are drawn from the Sloan School and the departments of Economics,
Political Science, and Urban Studies and Planning.
IWER faculty and graduate students conduct research on the
broad range of issues related to the role of work and employment
in the contemporary economy and society, including labor-management
relations, human resource strategies and practices in both
mature and new entrepreneurial organizations, work and family
relationships, human capital and corporate governance, labor
market theory and policy analysis, the changing nature of
work and occupations, negotiations theory and practice, dispute
resolution, and labor and employment policy. Together with
colleagues at Stanford and several other universities, IWER
faculty recently launched a major study of employment
standards in global supply chains.
The institute administers a PhD program and fellowships primarily
for students enrolled in the MIT Sloan PhD program, but students
from other departments at MIT are encouraged to become members
of IWER, participate in weekly seminars and work closely with
faculty members. The seminar series on Changes and Challenges
in the World of Work is held every Tuesday and brings together
faculty and students at MIT and in the Boston area to discuss
work in progress and serves as a major focal point for interest
in this field.
IWER's codirectors are Thomas A. Kochan and Paul Osterman. For more information, contact Jacalyn Martelli, Room E52-580, 617-258-8360, fax 617-253-7696, iwer@mit.edu.