Prof. dr. Irmgard Borghouts is endowed professor HRM & Social Security at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. This chair has been endowed by Instituut Gak.
She studied Labor Market and Social Security at Tilburg University (1998). After jobs at Municipality Utrecht, IVA Beleidsonderzoek and OSA she started working at Tilburg University in 2009. She obtained her PhD in 2012 on an international comparative study of employment security systems. In 2012-2014 Borghouts was also attached to Ecorys as principal consultant. In 2016, she received the Annual Science Award for her research. The award was presented in Berlin, Germany. Borghouts is currently associated with the Department of Private, Business & Labour Law within Tilburg Law School and HR studies, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Her multidisciplinary expertise lies in the fields of employment security, labor market policy, social security and inclusive HRM. Social policy and social security are her starting point and she links this with strategic HRM issues within organizations. Two transitions are central in her work: 1) the transition from inactivity to employment with special attention for vulnerable groups (e.g. people with disability, unemployed) and 2) the transition From Work to Work for people who (threaten to) lose their jobs. Irmgard has extensive experience in acquiring, leading and implementing (international) scientific and applied research. She has been involved in many quantitative and qualitative research projects, among others commissioned by the European Commission, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. She has over 100 publications to her name and is a much sought-after speaker at home and abroad. Irmgard has been awarded nearly 1.3 million euros for scientific research.