HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: MODERN TRENDS, PRACTICES & CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Human resource management (HRM) and industrial relations (IR) are undergoing substantial change as organisations respond to digital technologies, global competition, shifting workforce expectations, new employment arrangements and evolving labour regulation. The relationship between these domains is increasingly interdependent: strategic HRM influences recruitment, capability development, performance and employee experience, while industrial relations institutions shape the legitimacy, fairness and sustainability of organisational decisions. This paper examines the principal trends, practices and challenges influencing HRM and IR in the twenty-first century, with particular attention to the Indian employment context and its interaction with global developments. It adopts a structured narrative review of established scholarship, recent peer-reviewed studies and institutional publications. The synthesis identifies five connected areas of change: digital and algorithmic HRM; skills development and employability; employee well-being and inclusion; changing forms of worker representation; and renewed emphasis on social dialogue and workplace governance. The analysis indicates that technology can improve administrative efficiency and decision support, but may also intensify surveillance, reproduce bias and weaken employee autonomy when implemented without transparency and consultation. Similarly, individualised employee engagement cannot fully substitute for collective voice and institutional bargaining. The paper proposes an integrated framework in which responsible HRM, meaningful employee participation and constructive industrial relations jointly support organisational performance, decent work and employment sustainability.