Through teaching, research and outreach, we generate and share knowledge to solve human problems, manage and resolve conflict, establish best practices in the workplace and inform government policy.
Reporters and ILR experts connect hundreds of times every year to bring understandable knowledge about complex work, labor and employment issues to the public. Providing perspectives on international, national, state and regional news, our faculty's expertise is wide ranging. Unions, economics, HR, inequality, conflict resolution, disability, health and safety, labor history, workplace behavior and labor law are among our topic areas.
Founded in 1945 as the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, we are known today as the ILR School.
October 14, 2021
Lara Skinner is the director of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative and an expert on labor and employment issues related to sustainability, climate protection and clean energy. Skinner can comment on job creation that will emerge as a result of prioritizing wind development — both in the construction phase as well as through longer term manufacturing facilities.
October 12, 2021
A customs dispute at the U.S.-Canada border is threatening America’s supply of Alaska pollock – the key fish used for fish sticks and fast-food sandwiches – and raising concerns of permanent disruptions to the seafood supply chain. Desirée LeClercq is an expert on labor provisions in trade agreements. She says the recent dispute exposes flaws in our trading system including outdated legislation meant to protect U.S. ship owners and operators.
October 12, 2021
Over the long weekend, Southwest Airlines cancelled over 2,000 flights, causing major disruptions to travel plans for thousands of passengers. Arthur Wheaton, an expert in airline industries, says while the problems at Southwest Airlines mirror the supply chain issues facing the globe, they have not handled the situation very well, reducing consumer trust.
September 29, 2021
Hospitals and nursing homes in New York are bracing for the possibility that the statewide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers could lead to staff shortages when it takes effect today. Ariel Avgar is an associate professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and associate director with the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution. His research focuses on the impact of conflict on employees and employers.
September 23, 2021
Today, the New York City Council is likely to pass a package of legislation that will set minimum pay and improve working conditions for app-based delivery workers. Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, says the protections expected to be approved today are needed, but much more must be done.
September 22, 2021
Adam Seth Litwin, says because frontline caregivers are in such high demand, the healthcare sector may need to rely on prevention instead of treatment.
September 22, 2021
The U.S. will start easing travel restrictions for international visitors who are vaccinated against Covid-19 in November. Chekitan Dev and Ian Greer weigh in on how the loosened restrictions will impact to the tourism industry in the U.S. as well as what foreign travelers may encounter upon arrival.
September 14, 2021
Amazon recently announced an increase in the average starting wage for their workers to $18 per hour. The following Cornell University experts weigh in on what this change will mean for workers, managers and the broader industry. Diane Burton, human resources professor and director of the Institute for Compensation Studies, says while raising wages is great for employees it can cause challenges for managers including how to pay for the wage increase and how to handle morale issues from wage compression. Tae Youn Park, human resources associate professor, says although higher wages are better, many workers are looking for more in a compensation package including flexible schedules, childcare or education tuition support, and paid leave opportunities.
September 9, 2021
As President Biden continues to promote his infrastructure bill, concerns are rising as the U.S. faces a shortage of skilled workers to fill the positions needed in construction, transportation and energy. Art Wheaton, workplace and industry education specialist at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations says as long as there are long-term assurances of jobs, training and apprenticeship programs will aid in filling those positions.
September 1, 2021
Vanessa Bohns, associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University’s ILR School, offers the following suggestions for how to make–the potentially tricky–request more effective.
September 1, 2021
Cornell University experts – including Russell Weaver, Nellie Brown, Susanne Bruyère – weigh in on masking and social distancing for grades K-12.
August 27, 2021
A host of Cornell University labor experts are available to weigh in on the increased focus on workplace safety, gig economy growth, unemployment and employee shortages, climate jobs, social justice at work and more.
May 27, 2021
Maria Figueroa, director of labor and policy research at Cornell University’s Worker Institute, says this development in the U.K could have global influence on labor law reforms that benefit gig workers.
May 14, 2021
Desirée LeClercq, is a professor of employment law and an expert on labor provisions in trade agreements. She spent seven years at the ILO, where she advised various governments and the EU on how to draft and implement their trade agreements’ labor chapters.
May 14, 2021
Art Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry at ILR, says car companies alone can’t achieve all-electric fleets in the next two decades without federal investment.
April 14, 2021
Vanessa Bohns, associate professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, studies social influence and the psychology of compliance and consent. She says that sexual harassment training by McDonald's must be combined with other initiatives to be effective.
April 12, 2021
Arthur Wheaton, an expert on the automotive industry at the ILR School, says demand for semiconductor chips among automakers is only going to increase as more electric vehicles are introduced into fleets, and that it may lead to “billions in manufacturing stoppages.”
April 9, 2021
Tony Byers, diversity and inclusion programs director at the ILR School, says of Target's commitment to Black-owned businesses that GenZ "seemingly have higher expectations for corporate commitment to social, economic, and environmental change."
April 1, 2021
Russell Weaver, economic geographer and director of research at the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, says while the March jobs report is poised to show continued signs of economic recovery, New York state is still lagging behind the rest of the nation.
March 30, 2021
Lara Skinner is the director of the Worker Institute’s Labor Leading on Climate Initiative and an expert on labor and employment issues related to sustainability, climate protection and clean energy. She says the Biden administration’s goal to build a large offshore wind industry demonstrates his commitment to tackling climate change and creating high-quality jobs for Americans.
March 10, 2021
Vanessa Bohns, associate professor of organizational behavior Cornell University’s ILR School, says TikTok’s efforts should have a positive impact on improving the online community.
February 10, 2021
Salesforce, a leading cloud-based software company based in San Francisco, announced this week that it would allow its employees to “work remotely part or full time after the pandemic.” Bradford S. Bell says that Salesforce is not alone in suggesting hybrid work arrangements in the long term. He adds that such decisions carry important cost-saving and other benefits for companies with a significant real estate footprint, like Salesforce.
December 2, 2020
Protests are spreading in India, where farmers are rallying against new agricultural laws that they say will undermine their livelihood and benefit big corporations. Sarah Besky, associate professor in the ILR School at Cornell University, studies labor relations with an emphasis on farming and the tea industry in India. She is available for interviews about the economic dynamics underlying the current protests.
