UC Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor & Employment (IRLE)

Special Seminar. Can Economic Policy Make Life More Affordable? Jared Bernstein, former chair, Biden administration’s Council of Economic Advisers Discussants: Jesse Rothstein (Public Policy, Economics) and Laura Tyson (Haas) Moderated by Michael Reich (CWED). Wednesday, March 11 4:00–5:30 PM IRLE Conference Room 2521 Channing Way irle.berkeley.edu/events. Numerous polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the U.S. economy and, by extension, with both major political parties. In response, Democrats and Republicans are advancing competing approaches to make the economy more affordable. Can either approach succeed?

Can economic policy make life more affordable?

Join us next Wednesday for a special seminar with @jaredb-econ.bsky.social, @lauradtyson.bsky.social, @jrothst.bsky.social and Michael Reich.

Event details: irle.berkeley.edu/event/can-ec...

Those out-of-pocket costs do impact people's decisions to get care, so that's worrisome as well. Miranda Dietz, Health Care Program Director, UC Berkeley Labor Center.

Miranda Dietz @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social explains why it's a problem that 1 in 3 new Covered California enrollees chose the cheapest, highest deductible health plans in the the latest from @ab-ibarra.bsky.social @calmatters.org

Read the article: calmatters.org/health/2026/...

Check out our monthly newsletter for upcoming events, job and research funding opportunities, and the latest research from our centers.

🗞️ Read this month's edition: us17.campaign-archive.com?u=1af5855024...

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How the anxiety over AI could fuel a new workers’ movement New technology has workers spooked, but experts say it’s creating an opening for a resurgence in worker power

Lisa Kresge: “There is a concerted effort among many tech leaders to create mystification around AI as a tactic...to disempower workers, policymakers & anyone who might be critical of the growing concentration of funding & resources.” @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

Labor Summer Internship Labor Summer is a full-time, PAID, intensive eight-week educational internship program. Students learn from and work with labor and community organizations in Northern and Central California, applying...

Students, if you...

🔹 believe all workers in deserve to work and live in dignity
🔹 want to learn how to build worker and community power

...then @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social's paid Labor Summer internship is for you!

Learn more and apply by Feb 21: laborcenter.berkeley.edu/labor-summer...

Policy Researcher/Senior Policy Researcher, Health Care Program (Associate/Full Specialist) - UC Berkeley Labor Center University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

The @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social is hiring a health care policy researcher.

Join a high-impact team at the forefront of research on the most pressing economic challenges affecting working families in California and across the country.

Learn more and apply: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05275

They are organizing together across districts with parents and students to demand the schools that every California student deserves. Danielle Mahones, UC Berkeley Labor center, on the wage of CA teacher strikes

Danielle Mahones @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social breaks down why educators across California are striking for fully funded classrooms, appropriate staffing, access to quality healthcare, and more in the latest from @kqednews.kqed.org

Listen and read: www.kqed.org/news/1207316...

Tomorrow at 4pm!

irle.berkeley.edu/events/econo...

California Policy Lab: We're hiring

Great job alert! @capolicylab.bsky.social is hiring a labor economics researcher for a remote or hybrid (LA) role.

Design and conduct policy-relevant research in partnership with state and local agencies in California.

Learn more and please share widely: capolicylab.org/careers/rese...

#Econsky

Economic Policy Agendas to Rebuild America, with Dani Rodrik (Harvard), Michael Reich (Berkeley), Jennifer Harris (Hewlett), and Paul Pierson (berkeley. Sponsored by IRLE and BESI

Join us on Feb 11:

@drodrik.bsky.social, Michael Reich, Jennifer Harris, & Paul Pierson @besiberkeley.bsky.social discuss the unraveling of neoliberal economic policy, emerging agendas to address Americans’ unmet needs, and the politics that could make them real.

irle.berkeley.edu/events/econo...

Check out our January newsletter for the latest IRLE events, research, and student opportunities.

Read more: us17.campaign-archive.com?u=1af5855024...

Subscribe: irle.berkeley.edu/newsletter-s...

IRLE’s 2025 Impact Report

Amid rapid social, political, and economic change, IRLE's mission remains constant: connecting world-class research with policy to improve workers’ lives and communities.

Learn more: irle.berkeley.edu/about/impact...

Welcome to IRLE!

Industrial Relations Call for Papers. Special Issue on the gender wage gap. Extended abstracts are due April 3, 2026.

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society invites submissions to a special issue examining reasons for gender wage gaps around the world and policy responses to them.

Extended abstracts due April 3.

Learn more: irle.berkeley.edu/wp-content/u...

Here's a preview of our final IR Berkeley of the year out soon. Eight papers covering issues from the impact of occupational licensing on retirement through to workforce composition and its effect on trust at the workplace.

Here's a preview of our last edition of the year. Eight papers ranging from the impact of occupational licensing on retirement through to trust in the workplace. Check it out. @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social @sriucl.bsky.social

Negotiating tech A searchable inventory of contract provisions from over 175 union agreements showing how collective bargaining has been used to address workplace technologies, protect worker rights, and shape technol...

Are you a union negotiator, researcher, policymaker, or journalist tracking how digital tech is used at work--and how unions are responding?

Explore @ucblaborcenter.bsky.social's inventory of collective bargaining provisions related to workplace tech: laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-...

#EconSky: @capolicylab.bsky.social is hiring a labor-focused data analyst.

Apply today: capolicylab.org/careers/data...

📬 Our July newsletter is out now!

Meet our research awardees and learn about upcoming student opportunities, fall events, and the latest research highlights from our centers.

🗞️ Read the newsletter: us17.campaign-archive.com?u=1af5855024...
🔗 Subscribe to stay connected: mailchi.mp/berkeley/irl...

Graduate student research awardees: Marco Badilla Maroto, Samuel Ayers, Dustin Swonder, Brenda Sciepura, AnneMarie Bryson, @javierfreire.bsky.social, Steve Ramos, and Maribel Estrada Calderon

Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/student-oppo...

Dissertation fellows: Sofia Guo, @alanyan.bsky.social, Teresita Cruz Vital, Max Snyder, Jasmine Sanders, Afras Sial, and Alessandro Marchetti-Bowick (not pictured)

Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/student-oppo...

Faculty research awardees: Enrico Moretti (Economics), Carlos Schmidt-Padilla (GSPP), Jennifer Skeem (GSPP), Laura (Layla) Kwong (Public Health), Trond Petersen (Sociology, and Alexandra Hill (ARE)

Learn more the 2025 cohort: irle.berkeley.edu/faculty-reso...

🏆 We’re thrilled to announce the recipients of our annual research awards.

This year, we received an unprecedented number of applications. The 21 selected projects stood out for their potential for meaningful research insights.

Join us in congratulating these exceptional Berkeley scholars.

Good to see that in the new Clarivate Journal Citation Report the IR Berkeley Impact Factor (JIF) rose from 2.4 in 2023 to 2.6 in 2024, with a move up the rankings in Industrial Relations and Labor from 19/51 to 14/52 @ucberkeleyirle.bsky.social

Session 5: Who benefits from racial inequality, with ‪@michaelreich.bsky.social‬

Hope to see you! irle.berkeley.edu/events/minim...

Session 4: Downstream effects of Minimum Wages (chaired by Alexandra Hill), with @kristaruffini.bsky.social, @annastansbury.bsky.social, and Jason Sockin

Keynote: David Card, “Employer Wage-Setting in Low-Wage Labor Markets”

Session 2: Employer power in low wage labor markets (chaired by Todd Sorensen), with @sydneecaldwell.bsky.social, @arindube.bsky.social, and Suresh Naidu

Session 1: Minimum wage effects: Where are we now (chaired by @elopezlira.bsky.social), with Ellora Derenoncourt, @jcwetcoast.bsky.social, and @dsosinskiy.bsky.social

#EconSky: Last chance to register for virtual attendance at Friday's Minimum Wages and Monopsony Conference, featuring an all-star line of labor economists.

Learn more and register: irle.berkeley.edu/events/minim...

We're one week out from the "Minimum Wages & Monopsony Power"! Virtual registration is still open for this one-day event.

Register today: irle.berkeley.edu/minimum-wage...