Videos

  1. Japan, ILO earmark $2.2-M to restart small Philippine firms hit by pandemic

    23 July 2021

    ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) Market Edge in a live interview with ILO Enterprise Development Specialist Hideki Kagohashi talked about a recently launched ILO and Japan project to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  2. Construction: Building blocks to recovery after crisis

    28 January 2021

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the construction sector, which is sensitive to economic cycles. Yet, construction holds much potential to stimulate recovery, thanks to its potential to create jobs. Recovery measures can support the sector’s transformation towards sustainability and digitalization.

  3. How labour law applies to small enterprises

    11 December 2020

    Self-employed and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for two thirds of jobs worldwide. To ensure that all workers are equally protected, governments are implementing policies that extend the application, compliance, and enforcement of labour law to all enterprises regardless of their size, including those the informal economy and in self-employment.

  4. How Sustainable Enterprises can be part of the Post COVID-19 Response

    19 November 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and devastating impact on micro, small, and medium enterprises. To re-build economies that are more resilient and create productive, decent employment, policymakers will have to put in place reforms that are especially conducive for MSMEs.

  5. ILO COVID-19 prevention checklist to protect workers in small businesses

    09 September 2020

    The ILO has devised a checklist so that Small and Medium Enterprises can assess their COVID-19 risks and put in place measures to protect the safety and health of their workers.

  6. The role of Cooperatives and SSE in the COVID-19 response

    03 July 2020

    Cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy (SSE) enterprises around the world are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In responding to this crisis, they have provided essential assistance to their members, adapted their services, connecting people in need of support with local governments and social partners.

  7. Message from ILO's Director-General Guy Ryder for International MSME Day 2020

    26 June 2020

    The 2020 International Day of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) was celebrated on Saturday 27 June. This year, the theme was "COVID-19: The Great Lockdown and its impact on Small Business" which is closely linked to SDG8. On this occasion ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, issued a short video message.

  8. Five things SMEs need to survive COVID-19

    03 April 2020

    The COVID-19 outbreak has hit Small and Medium Enterprises and their workers hard. So what do SMEs need and what has worked in previous calamities to help them survive? Here are our top five policy options.

  9. Report in Short: Small business matters

    31 October 2019

    ILO experts Dragan Radic and Florence Bonnet explain why small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be getting your attention when looking at the future of work.

  10. How skills development is changing lives in Eastern and Southern Africa

    10 November 2017

    In Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania there is a new initiative to give young men and women practical skills to increase their employability, find decent work and improve their productivity. The approach is showing results in part because it is flexible, meeting the unique challenges facing each country.

  11. What are six key ingredients to promote sustainable enterprises?

    09 October 2017

    The ILO looks at six key ingredients to promote sustainable enterprises and have a win-win situation of high competitiveness and decent work. Find out more in the ILO’s 2017 report: “World Employment and Social Outlook – Sustainable enterprises and jobs: Formal enterprises and decent work”.

  12. How to work our way out of poverty?

    01 June 2016

    Is it possible to create enough decent jobs to eradicate poverty by 2030? The ILO's Hans von Rohland discusses with Donato Kiniger-Passigli, ILO Fragile States Coordinator and Matthew Ripley, from the ILO Small-Medium Enterprises department.

  13. ILO SCORE India : ‘Green SMEs, Win SMEs'

    21 April 2016

    ‘Green Practices’ by enterprises not only contribute to their resource efficiency and savings but also in the sustainable development of a country due to reduced environmental impact on community. Further, it is increasingly becoming a determining factor in purchasing and procurement decisions by global buyers. This video shows the gains reported by SCORE-trained Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India after becoming ‘green’ following adoption of simple and cost-effective clean production techniques identified through the involvement of employees.

  14. Getting it right for small and medium-sized enterprises

    02 June 2015

    How to support small and medium-sized enterprises through government policies is a focus of debate at this year's International Labour Conference.

  15. South Africa: The 2013 Free State enterPRIZE Job Creation Challenge

    24 February 2014

    The aim of the enterPRIZE job challenge is to enhance the growth of emerging, new and established entrepreneurs that are in the process of setting up a business or have a business they want to expand to with a view to seizing unexploited or underexploited market opportunities. The enterPRIZE job challenge is designed to create opportunities for business owners who find it difficult to secure conventional commercial funding for start-up or expansion of their ventures.

  16. Renata Lemos: Research Linking Better Management Practices and Productivity

    24 October 2013

    Renata Lemos , researcher at the London School of Economics on Management, Productivity and Development, shares the results of recent research, which demonstrates the positive link between the adoption of better management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and improved productivity.

  17. Anna Biondi: The value of worker participation in SME management

    24 October 2013

    Anna Biondi, Deputy Director of the ILO Bureau for Workers Activities (ACTRAV) underlines the need to create a cooperative environment in small and medium-sized enterprises, so that workers and managers can jointly bring about improved working conditions and develop policies addressing the needs of women in the work place.

  18. Michael Elkin: How small and medium-sized enterprises can boost competitiveness

    24 October 2013

    Michael Elkin, the global manager for the ILO Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) programme underlines the link between working conditions and productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), highlighting the dramatic improvements in competitiveness and working conditions experienced in one SME in Indonesia as a result of SCORE training.

  19. Hilary Steedman: Apprenticeships and productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises

    24 October 2013

    Hilary Steedman, a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics talks about how apprenticeships can help small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) improve their productivity, and their importance for young employees, both women and men.

  20. SCORE: Small & Medium Enterprise are key to development

    07 December 2012

    SCORE -'Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises'- is a technical cooperation programme of the ILO that supports the sustainable growth of small and medium enterprises in order to foster development in emerging economies. Partnering with local employers' organizations and training institutions, SCORE helps SMEs adopt socially responsible and environmentally sustainable work methods that boost their productivity.