José María Peiró is Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology at the Universitat de València. The day before his investiture he held a conference entitled “Are happy workers more productive?”, in which he tackled the issue of wellness and work performance sustainability. “There has to be a synergy between both factors, contributing to their mutual sustainability,” he said. “A job with high level of wellness but low performance is not likely to be sustainable for long and neither will one that demands high productivity without implying wellness for the worker. These two aspects are therefore crucial for sustainability at work: the wellness of the worker in a healthy company and the effective performance of the worker in a productive and competitive company.”

Professor Peiró recalled that major changes are taking place in the business world (and in society in general): digitalisation, labour flexibility, the "gig" economy, globalised competition, migrations and demographic changes and the incorporation of a new (“millennial”) generation into the workplace. These transformations, he explained, are having a great influence on how it is like to work today and on what is required by companies today in terms of human resources management and development. "Achieving wellness at work and effective and productive performance is a challenge that must be faced if an economy and society are to be sustainable in its social, environmental and economic aspects," he concluded.

Graduate (1975) and Doctor (1977) in Philosophy and Literature (Universitat de València), José María Peiró graduated in Psychology (1976) (Complutense University of Madrid). Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology (Universitat de València). Doctor honoris causa (Miguel Hernandez University of Elche, 2017, and Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, 2010) He has been director of the IDOCAL Research Institute and president of the International Association of Applied Psychology (2011-2014). Author of more than 50 books and book chapters, and more than 130 published articles. He is specialist in youth employment, quality of service, organisational climate and culture, work teams, psychosocial aspects of ICT (information and communication technologies), and prevention of psychosocial risks.