China’s proposed rules aim to improve pay, rest and working conditions for tens of millions of gig workers, but analysts warn that financial pressures, differing work arrangements and enforcement challenges could limit their impact. CNA Melody Chan 19 Oct 2026 Jenny Chan, an associate professor of sociology at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said workers needContinue reading “No easy gig: China’s push to better protect platform workers faces hurdles (CNA, Melody Chan, 19 Oct 2026)”
Author Archives: jennychan1
2026 World’s top 2% scientists
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has achieved outstanding results in the latest list of the World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists 2026, compiled by Stanford University. Notably, 274 scholars were included based on their career-long citation impact. Together with the scholars named for their single-year citation impact, a total of 481 PolyU scholars have beenContinue reading “2026 World’s top 2% scientists”
2025 World’s top 2% Scientists
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS) has 32 scholars ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in the 2025 metrics compiled by Stanford University. The World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists is compiled by Stanford University based on composite indicators of publication impact. It covers 22 subject fields andContinue reading “2025 World’s top 2% Scientists”
John Gittings
A graduate in Oriental Studies from Oxford University, John Gittings worked previously at Chatham House, the Universidad de Chile, the Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong), the London School of Economics, and the Polytechnic of Central London (now University of Westminster). His first connection with SOAS was learning Chinese on an RAF course in 1957-58.Continue reading “John Gittings”
Jing Wang and Jenny Chan. 2026. “Practising Gender Subjectivities in Platform Work: Food Delivery Workers and House Cleaning Workers in China.” Work, Employment and Society. Online First: 26 Sep 2026
Abstract Drawing on interviews from two case studies in China’s food delivery and house cleaning sectors, this research examines workers’ gender subjectivities and their interaction with the labour politics of platform work. Male delivery riders experience a crisis of masculinity, de-flexibilise their labour to maximise income and affirm migrant masculinities, yet their insecurity persists. FemaleContinue reading “Jing Wang and Jenny Chan. 2026. “Practising Gender Subjectivities in Platform Work: Food Delivery Workers and House Cleaning Workers in China.” Work, Employment and Society. Online First: 26 Sep 2026”
Unemployment is becoming a way of life for China’s young (The Economist, 17 Sep 2026)
FEW COULD have predicted the fallout last month after Xingyu Automotive Lighting, a big car-parts maker in eastern China, decided it had hired too many people over the summer. The company gave an ultimatum to some 140 fresh graduates who had been employed there for just a few weeks: either resign with half a month’sContinue reading “Unemployment is becoming a way of life for China’s young (The Economist, 17 Sep 2026)”
Ernest Ming-tak Leung and Jenny Chan (Labor History 2026)
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)”
Montevideo, Uruguay (Nov 2026)
Realizing Decent Work for Platform Food Delivery Workers in China Jenny Chan (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) 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,Continue reading “Montevideo, Uruguay (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)”
