IWH Senior Workshop on Future Labour Markets (FLAME)

Impressions of the FLAME workshop
(Photos: IWH, © Thomas Victor)

The FLAME workshop is an annual academic event hosted by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) that provides a platform for frontier research on the future of work. The focus lies on labour market developments driven by structural transformation, with particular attention to wage formation, labour market institutions, and the role of firms in shaping employment and inequality. 

The workshop follows a curated format: participation is by invitation only, enabling a small group of senior scholars to engage in open, in-depth discussion. Each senior participant is encouraged to bring a junior co-author or mentee, who contributes to the academic exchange by presenting their own work and discussing that of others. This dual-layer structure fosters a vibrant yet intimate research environment – offering constructive feedback, mentoring opportunities, and meaningful dialogue across career stages. 

The inaugural edition took place in June 2025 and featured empirical contributions on minimum wage effects, unionisation, firms’ wage-setting practices, gender gaps in mobility and bargaining, and upskilling through informal learning. The discussions underscored how empirical labour economics can inform evidence-based policy in light of technological change, demographic shifts, and the green transition. 

FLAME is part of a broader initiative at IWH to intensify its research on labour markets and structural change, supported by a growing international network and strengthened by the recent creation of the Centre for Business and Productivity Dynamics (IWH-CBPD). The workshop will continue to serve as a platform for top empirical work with high policy relevance – anchoring IWH as a European hub for labour economics.