The aim of WRC is to promoting research in various aspects of work and working life as well as to support graduate and post-graduate training. A wide range of disciplines are represented in work research, including sociology, social psychology, social policy, administrative science, psychology, and education.The integrating theme in the research is the idea on sustainable working life.
Most of Work Research Centre’s research activities are funded externally by the Academy of Finland, the Finnish Work Environment Fund and various ministries among others but also through the European Commission. Some of its projects are also financially supported by several companies, labour market organizations and local councils. Its current and future research include the following themes:
- Technology and work
- Work, well-being and quality of life
- Power relationships in working life and gender
- Labour markets and use of labour force
- Work communities, change and development
Work Research Centre has also a solid tradition in applied research. Some of the research projects are action and intervention studies, in which the researchers get involved in the development of the work organization.
Work Research Centre hosts a yearly Work Research Conference in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Work Life Research (FAWORE). It also organizes international seminars and meetings, which helps the centre to establish and to sustain extensive international contacts. In recent years, the centre has devoted increasing resources to participation in comparative research projects in a European context as well as in broader international research networks and will continue to do so in the future.