industrial relations

American  

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the dealings or relations of an industrial concern with its employees, with labor in general, with the public, etc.

2. (used with a singular verb) the administration of such relations, especially to maintain goodwill for an industrial concern.

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industrial relations British  

noun

1. (functioning as plural) those aspects of collective relations between management and workers' representatives which are normally covered by collective bargaining

2. (functioning as singular) the management of relations between the employers or managers of an enterprise and their employees

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industrial relations Cultural  

1. Relations between management and labor unions or between management and individual workers. Sometimes called labor relations.

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Etymology

Origin of industrial relations

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Anthropic has announced deals with accounting firms like Deloitte—which is a sponsor of CFO Journal—and PricewaterhouseCoopers, to develop industry solutions, among other things.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

Anthropic, meanwhile, announced a deal with Deloitte last year to develop industry solutions; it works with other firms, too.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

“Wow. This is absolutely astonishing,” said Oliver Guy, senior director for industry solutions at Software AG.

From Washington Times • Dec. 17, 2020

SAP’s  Tsai said the company has a longer term strategy to create industry solutions with SAS.

From Forbes • Oct. 24, 2013

“We deliberately chose not to tell the end-to-end story about these acquisitions” when the deals were made in 2010, said Craig Hayman, general manager of IBM’s industry solutions group.

From Forbes • Mar. 14, 2011