HRM and the COVID‐19 pandemic: How can we stop making a bad situation worse?
Mark Butterick, Andy Charlwood
Abstract
Abstract This provocation argues that the COVID‐19 pandemic has exposed deep labour market inequalities. Partially underpinning these inequalities are human resource management (HRM) theories and practices which encourage and legitimise the commodification of labour. Workers whose jobs have been commodified have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic. While HRM is not wholly responsible for this suffering it is important for those of us involved in researching, teaching and practicing HRM to reflect on the ways in which what we do has made a bad situation worse so that we can do better in the future.
Topics & Concepts
CommodificationPandemicInequalityCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)UnderpinningSociology2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Provocation testPolitical scienceBusinessEconomicsMarket economyMedicineVirologyEngineeringMathematical analysisAlternative medicineOutbreakCivil engineeringInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseaseMathematicsPathologyEmployment and Welfare StudiesCOVID-19 Pandemic ImpactsLabor market dynamics and wage inequality