Tony Dobbins

Tony Dobbins is Professor of Employment Relations & HR Management in the Department of Management at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham. He is part of the Organisation, Work and Employment (OWE) group, and the employment relations, trade unions and employee voice research stream. He is also a member of the Workplace Inclusivity Research Centre (WIRC). Tony is Programme Director for the MSc HRM. He joined Birmingham Business School in May 2018, from Bangor University, where he was formerly Professor of Employment Studies. Tony has twenty-five years employment relations experience as an academic, researcher, and journalist in the UK and Republic of Ireland, including eight years working for Industrial Relations News, Dublin.

Tony is President of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA), Visiting Professor at Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Visiting Academic at the University of Malta.
His research interests in the area of work and employment include: regulation of work, including EU Directives on employment; employee voice/industrial democracy; trade unions (workplace partnership, union recognition); low pay/the living wage; sociology of work, conflict and cooperation at work; employment and skills in regional labour markets. His research has been funded by several bodies (European Commission, Irish Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, British Academy, Leverhulme Trust).

Tony also engages in regular knowledge exchange and public engagement in various media, including: BBC, RTE, The Conversation, The Guardian, i newspaper, Huffington Post, Canada Globe and Mail, People Management. He also has external research experience and impact involving wider engagement with practitioners and policy-makers, through a range of employment relations projects with various organisations like the European Commission/European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Ireland’s National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO).