Labour, the workforce of every country, constitutes the engine of development as well as the main beneficiaries of development, hence, labour issues continue to be a significant constituent of development studies as a discipline.
As globalisation continue to push national boundaries, workers and their organisations remain confounded by economic policies designed to make national economies competitive.
The resultant deregulation and informalisation have added yet another dimension to the struggle of workers to secure their rights, especially those regarding employment security and social protection. These call for the need to understand, not just national policies and economic systems, but global political economy, its operations as well as its interconnectedness.
The need for academic programmes in labour studies and for research into labour issues have therefore increased in recent years.
The Department stands to respond to this need through its research and knowledge transfer.