The G-20 and Job Creation

Photograph by G20 Mexico

When the financial and economic crisis spread across the globe in 2008, the leaders of the G20 countries came together to devise a plan to further strengthen international cooperation. From that time the G20 leaders have convened Summits in Washington D.C. in 2008, in London and Pittsburgh in 2009, in Toronto and Seoul in 2010, in Cannes in 2011 and in Los Cabos in 2012. In carrying out its work, the G20 draws on the technical expertise of international organizations, chiefly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the ILO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations (UN) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

2013

The 2013 G20 Summit will take place in Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on 5-6 September, 2013.

2012

The G20 Labor Ministerial Meeting took place in Guadalajara, Mexico from 17-18 May 2012. The ministers agreed to create quality employment and decent work, which they prioritized in domestic and international policies aiming to a sustainable and balanced global economic growth. Inclusive green growth serves as a quality employment generator, in the context of sustainable development. The ministers also agreed to strengthen their commitment to youth by promoting the improvement of employability, equal opportunities, entrepreneurship and job creation for youth. In preparation to the ministerial meeting, the ILO, in collaboration with the OECD, produced two documents entitled “Short-term labor market outlook and key challenges in G20 countries” and “Sustainable development, green growth and quality employment”. The ILO and OECD expressed concern that if employment continues to grow at the current rate of 1.5 per cent, it will be impossible to close the approximately 21 million jobs gap that has accumulated across the G20 since the onset of the crisis in 2008.

The G20 Leaders Summit took place in Los Cabos, Mexico, from June 18-19, 2012. The ILO Director General Juan Somavia presented a joint report along with the heads of the OECD, IMF and World Bank on 'Boosting Jobs and Living Standards in G20 countries'. 

2011

The ILO provided substantive contributions to the G20 in 2011, in collaboration with the OECD, in preparation of the second meeting of the G20 Employment and Labor Ministers which took place in Paris on 26-27 September 2011. The meeting assessed the evolving employment situation in the context of the global financial crisis.

At the Cannes summit held on 3-4 November 2011, the G20 Leaders put a strong emphasis on growth and jobs within the G20 “Framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth”. It established a Task Force on Employment that will initially concentrate on youth employment, which today is two to three times higher than adults’ unemployment. The ILO and OECD expressed concern over the seriousness of the jobs crisis with 200 million people out of work worldwide, close to the peak recorded at the depth of the Great Recession (Joint Statement for G20 Labor Ministerial by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría)

2010

The ILO and the ILO Washington office provided extensive technical support to the meeting of G20 Ministers of Employment and Labor convened by the US Secretary of Labor in Washington, D.C. in April 2010. The ILO produced a series of background reports on the evolving employment and social protection situation in the context of the global financial crisis. "Accelerating a job-rich recovery in G20 countries: Building on experience" provides an assessment of the impact of the policy measures taken across G20 countries and identifies the policy challenges for a sustained jobs recovery. The recommendations of the Ministers, based on ILO technical inputs, were welcomed by the G20 Toronto Summit.

The ILO cooperated with other organizations in the preparation of technical support to the 2010 summits. The ILO worked with the IMF within the G20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. The ILO (with inputs from other organizations) developed a training strategy which was welcomed by G20 Leaders in Toronto and extended by the Seoul Summit to developing countries. The ILO worked together with the WTO, World Bank and OECD to produce a report on trade and employment for the G20 Seoul Summit. The central message of the report is that countries can gain by designing trade policies together with employment policies both to expand trade and to cushion adjustments induced by trade. ILO contributions have established how employment policies and expanded social protection coverage in all G20 countries could substantially contribute to rebalancing the global economy.

2009

The ILO contributed a technical report to the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh (September 2009) providing a first analysis of the employment and social impact of the extraordinary fiscal stimulus measures taken by governments. The ILO estimates were recognized by the IMF and by the media. The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh gave a strong mandate of “Putting quality jobs at the heart of the recovery” spanning job creation, social protection, training, decent work and ILO fundamental principles and rights at work. The ILO has since based its contributions to the G20 on that agenda.