With this issue of IMMpress Magazine, we examine the changes and challenges in the modern-day workplace. There have been several recent events—namely the Kellogg’s strike and a global rise in pessimism towards work due to companies putting profit over people—that inspired us to tackle the issues surrounding work, life, and the balance between them.
As always, our issue takes off with an infographic highlighting the world economy and the disparities we see across the world (p8). The infographic highlights the progress we’ve made in addressing inequality and how there is still so much left to do. We also had the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the state of intellectual property law through our interview with an alumnus of our Department of Immunology, Micheline Gravelle, a partner at Bereskin & Parr LLP (p18).
This current IMMpress issue can be boiled down to investigating the economic and mental health inequalities around the world. One approach to address economic inequalities is universal basic income and the effects it would have on society (p10). We then take a glimpse into the work culture surrounding PhD students and how it could compare to the 9-9, 6 days a week workweek of China (p12). Next, we delve further into a recent article from Nature that saw more PhD graduates going into industry than academia and examine why that is (p16) and we go over how mergers and acquisitions could impact the workforce at these companies (p20). We then discuss sentiments surrounding the current state of the gig economy (p21), how dissatisfaction with work has led to the rise of the anti-work movement (p24), and the victory of the recent Kellogg’s strike (p26). These issues are of course worldwide and so we examine how workers are exploited around the world (p28), the pros and cons of labour unions (p30), and the importance of mental health in the workplace, particularly in this new work from home era (p33). With this issue, we have also included a handful of resources on workplace rights here in Canada (p34).
We extend our gratitude to our wonderful team of writers, designers, and editors for their excellent work for this issue of IMMpress Magazine. Our team continues to inspire us with their thoughtful work and creativity. We hope our readers learn something new and enjoy! Finally, please stay safe and healthy out there!
IMMpress
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