Expert Author

Jim Stanford

Jim Stanford

Jim Stanford

Chair of the Board of Directors

Jim is a Canadian economist who served for 22 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union. He is the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada; Honorary Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney; and Senior Fellow at the Robert E. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies at the New School for Social Research in New York City.

Jim received his Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York. He also holds an M.Phil. in Economics from Cambridge University, and a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Calgary.

Jim was the founding Director of the Centre for Future Work in Australia (2016–2024). He relocated back to Canada to found a separate Centre for Future Work in Canada in 2020, which has become a high-profile centre of labour economics excellence.

He has provided research and advice through numerous federal and provincial government panels and inquiries on economic policy, innovation, jobs, and social policy. He is quoted frequently in the print and broadcast media, including through a regular column with the Toronto Star.

Research by Jim Stanford

A Portrait of Employment Insecurity in Australia

The insecure nature of work in Australia today can be illustrated through the following infographic (based on 2015 data published

By Jim Stanford

Economic Aspects of Paid Domestic Violence Leave Provisions

Economic insecurity is one of the greatest factors inhibiting victims of domestic violence from escaping violent situations at home. To

By Jim Stanford

Principles for Meaningful Transition Support for Workers in Carbon-Intensive Industries

As Australia and other countries shift their economies toward lower-carbon forms of energy and production, problems of displacement and transition

By Jim Stanford

Women’s Wages and the Penalty Rate Cut

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on the continued inequality faced by women — including in the

By Jim Stanford

A “Transition” to Nowhere

Pain of penalty rate cuts can not be avoided through transition measures Government and business leaders have proposed a range

By Jim Stanford

Weekend Work and Penalty Pay in 108 Industries

As Australians debate the Fair Work Commission’ decision to reduce penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers, the Centre for

By Jim Stanford

Of Levies, Profits, and Backstops: The Bank Tax in Context

The Australian government’s surprising decision to impose a new tax targeted precisely at the biggest financial institutions in the country

By Jim Stanford

Penalty Rates, Minimum Wages, and Purchasing Power

The Fair Work Commission released two major decisions this week: its order regarding the timing for the implementation of reductions

By Jim Stanford

Labour Share of Australian GDP Hits All-Time Record Low

Amidst increasing concerns among economists and budget forecasters about the historic stagnation of Australian wages, the latest GDP statistics from

By Jim Stanford

Manufacturing: A Moment of Opportunity

Dogged manufacturing sector quietly adds 40,000 jobs In conjunction with the National Manufacturing Summit, titled “From Opportunity to Action,” at

By Jim Stanford, Tom Swann

New Research Symposium on Work in the “Gig Economy”

The informal work practices of the so-called “gig” economy are widening existing cracks in Australia’s system of labour regulations, and

By Andrew Stewart, Frances Flanagan, Jim Stanford, Kate Minter, Wayne Lewchuk

Economic Impacts of Reductions In Penalty Rates for Sunday & Holiday Work

Our Centre has conducted considerable research into the impacts of the Fair Work Commission’s decision to substantially reduce penalty rates

By Jim Stanford

June GDP Numbers Confirm Lopsided Economy

This week the ABS released new GDP data, covering the June quarter, which confirm the continuing structural shift away labour

By Jim Stanford

Wage Suppression a Time Bomb in Superannuation System

The record-slow pace of wage growth in Australia’s economy is not just making it difficult for families to balance their

By Jim Stanford

False Economies: The Unintended Consequences of NSW Public Sector Wage Restraint

Budget-cutting political leaders regularly target the jobs and incomes of public sector workers as the first and most politically convenient

By Jim Stanford, Troy Henderson

NSW Workers’ Compensation System has Ample Resources to Maintain Benefits

The workers’ compensation system in NSW has been dramatically scaled back and restructured since the current state government came to

By Jim Stanford

Historical data on the decline in Australian industrial disputes

The Fair Work Commission’s ruling to pre-emptively block industrial action (including restrictions on overtime and a one-day work stoppage) by

By Jim Stanford

The Future of Work Is What We Make It

In October the Senate of Australia launched an important new inquiry into the Future of Work and the Future of

By Jim Stanford

The future of transportation work: Technology, work organization, and the quality of jobs

Workers in all parts of the economy are confronting twin threats from accelerating changes in technology and automation, and the

By Jim Stanford, Matt Grudnoff

Subsidising Billionaires: Simulating the Net Incomes of UberX Drivers in Australia

Uber’s rapid growth in point-to-point transportation services has become the most potent symbol of the growth of the so-called “gig

By Jim Stanford