Recent developments

Over the last decade, two trends have led to spectacular growth in the size and reach of commerce companies: extensive consolidation and concurrent worldwide expansion of retailers. Increased competition has also exerted downward pressure on prices eroding profit margins, compelling businesses to introduce more powerful technologies across a wide range of operations, including in the management of their human resources and their far-flung supplier, distribution and retail store networks.

The social and labour effects of new retail technologies have consequently been the focus of recent ILO action. A three-day tripartite meeting in Geneva in September 2006 brought together 77 participants, representing governments, employers and trade unions. The meeting acknowledged the potential gains from new technologies, but emphasized the need for workers and employers to use social dialogue to ensure both benefits and costs were fairly shared. A follow-up roundtable in November 2007 called for tripartite dialogue to modify education and training systems to adapt them to changes in labour market needs related to technological advances.

In addition, the ILO has provided support to sectoral constituents at the regional and national levels to address the issue of employment and new retail technologies. A subregional study has just been finalized on commerce sector technological change and skills requirements covering Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. In addition, funding was provided for a national high-level tripartite workshop on the same issue in Argentina. These activities follow another ILO tripartite seminar in December 2005 which reviewed structural and technological change in Asian retailing and suggested ways in which social dialogue could assist in such change. The seminar organized in Bangkok, Thailand, brought together delegates from China, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand and observers from Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States. Governments, employers and workers’ organizations were called on to take a positive approach to skills and training, harnessing continuous dialogue for harmonious industrial relations.

Useful links/resources

• ILO’s background report (pdf, 493k) to the Meeting (Social and labour implications of the increased use of advanced retail technologies).
• The Note on the proceedings (pdf, 271k) summarizing the Meeting’s debates and conclusions and covering, among other aspects, factors driving technological and structural change in the industry and their employment effects; enterprise flexibility, worker security and employability; social dialogue and harmonious industrial relations and issues for future ILO action.
• Report also available in Japanese (pdf, 999k).