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The Academy of Labour gGmbH was founded in October 2015 through a non-profit subsidiary of the German trade union IG Metall. Together with the Europäische Akademie der Arbeit (EAdA), the Academy of Labour builds the foundation for the House of Labour in Frankfurt/Main. We continue the rich history of the EAdA and at the same time establish new forms of employee-oriented education and research. The EAdA has been unique in the German academic landscape since its founding in 1921. It allows employees to receive training at an academic level, regardless of their formal educational background.
The IG Metall, the DGB, the State of Hessen, the City of Frankfurt and the Goethe-University Frankfurt have jointly developed the concept of a House of Labour as a necessary complementation of the academic landscape in Germany and Europe. The EAdA upgrades its established 11-months full-time program and its research projects under the umbrella of the House of Labour. The Academy of Labour was founded in October 2015 as an affiliate of the EAdA to develop and offer the Bachelor-, Master programs and certificate courses at the House of Labour.
The House of Labour in Frankfurt/Main consists of two pillars: the traditional Europäische Akademie der Arbeit with its 11-months full-time program and socio-political research projects on the one hand and the newly founded Academy of Labour on the other. The Academy of Labour offers Bachelor- and Master programs as well as certificate courses and seminars. We are thus breaking new ground in order to better integrate employee-oriented education and research into the higher education landscape in Germany and Europe. We empower employees with an excellent academic degree even without the need for a formal university entrance qualification.
At the end of 2025, the House of Labour is one of Europe's most prestigious education and research institutes for co-determination, employee representation and industrial relations. It is known for offering further education at an academic level even without the need for a formal university entrance qualification. The House of Labour provides the intellectual framework for specialist- and management tasks in the trade union context and for non-profit organizations, companies and public administrations.
The House of Labour promotes an open exchange between business-, political- and social leaders - such as trade union leaders - and provides an academic home for the discussion of the future of work from an employee perspective. With its research and publications, it has the power to shape the public discourse on industrial relations and co-determination so that it achieves broad media attention with effects on the economic and social development.
The House of Labour is an essential complementation of the academic landscape in Germany and Europe, especially in the fields of economics, law and social sciences. It sets impulses in the scientific discourse.
Our understanding of the House of Labour is based on the claim to become one of the most prestigious education and research institutes in the fields of employee representation and industrial relations by 2025. We therefore strive for excellence in teaching, research and practice. We train future professionals and leaders in strategic thinking and create an intellectually stimulating and international environment for lifelong learning. Through employee-oriented research, we make innovative contributions and set important impulses for the social discourse on the future of work. Using our contacts to business, society, trade unions and politics, we promote an open exchange and ensure practical relevance.
In order to realize our claim, we gain excellent experts from theory and practice who are well connected at the national and international level with leading universities, research institutes, organizations and companies.
We create an intellectually stimulating and international learning environment. We give the topics of employee representation, participation and industrial realations an academic home and put them on the political agenda. We emphasize the social dimension of economies and make a sustainable contribution to changing and improving the working environment of the future.
Employee orientation, practical experience, internationality and interdisciplinarity are equally united at the House of Labour. In education and research, we are always concerned with emphasizing the role of employees and their representatives. We want to help changing and improving the working environment of the future.
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