Ernest Ming-tak Leung and Jenny Chan. “‘Extremely Reactionary Gentlemen’ amidst a ‘Modern Miracle’: Was a Compromise Between Labour and Capital in British Hong Kong Unthinkable?” Labor History. First Online: 15 July 2026. doi.org/10.1080/0023656X.2026.2699798 ABSTRACT The Labour Advisory Board (LAB) in Hong Kong is a tripartite government body mediating between labour and business. Set up inContinue reading “Ernest Ming-tak Leung and Jenny Chan (Labor History 2026)”
Author Archives: jennychan1
Montevideo, Uruguay and Mexico City, Mexico (Nov 2026)
Realizing Decent Work for Platform Food Delivery Workers in China Labor Rights in the 21st Century International Conference (Montevideo, Uruguay, 20–21 November 2026) As the overwhelming majority of platform-mediated workers are not legally classified as formal employees, they rarely have minimum wages or any kinds of occupational benefits, such as pensions and health insurance. SocialContinue reading “Montevideo, Uruguay and Mexico City, Mexico (Nov 2026)”
Chinese Company Draws Fire for Laying Off 100 Grads a Month After Hiring Them (The Wall Street Journal, 7 Sep 2026)
Jenny Chan interviewed by Katrina Northrop for The Wall Street Journal, in “Chinese Company Draws Fire for Laying Off 100 Grads a Month After Hiring Them,” 7 Sep. [華爾街日報, 中國公司星宇股份因解僱100多名入職僅一個月的畢業生招致批評, 9月8日]. 《華爾街日報》援引香港理工大學研究中國勞動力市場的副教授陳慧玲(Jenny Chan)的話說,此次事件受到如此廣泛的關注實屬罕見。她說,裁員事件「相當普遍,但從未遇到過有組織的抵制和公開曝光」,而人工智能的發展也正給勞動者帶來更多「不確定性和不穩定性」。
Chinese migrant workers return home as urban jobs grow scarcer (William Langley, FT, 19 April 2026)
… Beijing does not publish annual data on how many have been returning to their home provinces, but analysts believe the trend has accelerated recently. … Jenny Chan of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University said many workers, particularly older ones, were being caught out by the upgrading of Chinese industries, which require new skills, andContinue reading “Chinese migrant workers return home as urban jobs grow scarcer (William Langley, FT, 19 April 2026)”
Chinese Manufacturers’ Shift to Flexibility Leaves Gig Labourers Exposed (20 Nov 2025, William Langley)
Hiring short-term workers to cut costs hurts their prospects and ability to learn new skills William LangleyPublished NOV 20 2025 … Jenny Chan, a sociologist at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, says that some factories can employ as many as 70 per cent of their workers on a temporary basis during peak seasons, although anContinue reading “Chinese Manufacturers’ Shift to Flexibility Leaves Gig Labourers Exposed (20 Nov 2025, William Langley)”
China’s Employment Transition: Adapting to a New Phase of Growth (CKGSB Knowledge, 28 Sep 2025)
by Patrick Body China’s employment transition: Adapting to a new phase of growth September 28, 2025 As China’s economy evolves, employment patterns are changing—creating both challenges and new opportunities “Each year, the top two career choices have increasingly become either civil service jobs or working at an SOE,” says Jenny Chan, Associate Professor of SociologyContinue reading “China’s Employment Transition: Adapting to a New Phase of Growth (CKGSB Knowledge, 28 Sep 2025)”
China is learning to accept alternative modes of work – Jenny Chan interviewed by the Washington Post (22 Sep 2025)
China is learning to accept alternative modes of work Digital nomads have set up communes across China to opt out of the rat race. Faced with a youth unemployment crisis, Beijing is now backing alternative ways of working. September 22, 2025 By Christian Shepherd and Rudy Lu “The government is very concerned that unemployment couldContinue reading “China is learning to accept alternative modes of work – Jenny Chan interviewed by the Washington Post (22 Sep 2025)”
China’s Aging Migrant Workforce (by Rachel Cheung, The Wire China, 1 Jun 2025)
Jenny Chan interviewed by Rachel Cheung for The Wire China, in “China’s Aging Migrant Workforce,” 1 Jun 2025. The Big Picture Some 300 million Chinese workers are facing a more precarious future amid the country’s economic transition. In 2008, when the Chinese government began to compile official statistics on the country’s army of migrant workers,Continue reading “China’s Aging Migrant Workforce (by Rachel Cheung, The Wire China, 1 Jun 2025)”
Chan (2025) Platform labor politics
Chan, Jenny. 2025. “Platform-mediated Informal Employment, the State, and Labor Politics in China.” Pp. 233-47 in The Handbook of Digital Labor, edited by Jack Linchuan Qiu, Shinjoung Yeo and Richard Maxwell. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Jenny Chan presents an overview of platform-mediated labor in China with an emphasis on informal employment, the role of the state,Continue reading “Chan (2025) Platform labor politics”
HRM in China’s New Global Economy
Tony Dundon and Jenny Chan. 2025. “HRM in China’s New Global Economy.” Pp. 16-18 in Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases, edited by Adrian Wilkinson, Tony Dundon and Edward Yates. 7th Edition. London: SAGE. URL: https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/contemporary-human-resource-management/book286108