All ILO Newsroom content
February 2022
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Informal ministerial meeting of the Ministers of Labour (EPSCO)
The impact of digital and climate transitions on the labour market
15 February 2022
In a video statement to the EU labour ministers of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO), ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, addresses the “need to accelerate and to steer the transition to a greener, more sustainable, more digital economy”.
September 2021
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International Labour Review, Centenary Collection (2021), No. 2
Introduction: Labour and technology – Reflecting on a century of debate in theInternational Labour Review
20 September 2021
The aim of this Centenary Issue is to assess a century of debates about the relationships between labour and technology as reflected in various relevant articles in the International Labour Review. The recent wave of interest in sociotechnical change and its implications for the future of work has led numerous commentators to claim that we are on the brink of unprecedented and seismic change. The 14 articles selected for this issue were published between 1925 and 2020 and provide a timely reflection on foundational debates that continue to resonate today.
December 2020
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Thinking Ahead on Society Change (TASC) Platform
The importance of multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration in COVID-19 recovery
04 December 2020
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder addressed the opening session of the Future of Work Summit.
October 2020
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Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Labour and Employment
How can BRICS countries leverage technology to achieve decent work for all?
09 October 2020
The potential of the digital economy must be harnessed to help address the challenges facing the world of work said ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, at the Labour and Employment Ministers meeting of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa on 9 October.
May 2020
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© michael_swan 2022
Blog
The shift to online learning and skills training shows promising trends and troubling signs
12 May 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of online learning and training, as millions of people are forced to stay at home. It’s proved to be both an opportunity and a challenge.
April 2020
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International Labour Review, Vol. 159 (2020), No. 1
Back to the future: A continuity of dialogue on work and technology at the ILO
22 April 2020
Concerns about technological unemployment are not new. Specifically, policy debates surrounding automation processes in the 1960s reflected both optimism and concerns about the job-destroying potential of technology. Studying the archives, and in particular the information collected by the Bureau of Automation, shows that many of today’s policy proposals were originally raised at the ILO during that period, even though they were never translated into regulatory policy. This article thus suggests that reopening this past dialogue may reveal useful insights for addressing current challenges, and enable us to achieve the world of work we wish to see in the future.
December 2019
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International Labour Review, Vol. 158 (2019), No. 4
Whither the evolution of the contemporary social fabric? New technologies and old socio-economic trends
27 December 2019
This article considers whether societies are witnessing another industrial revolution in the light of an assessment of the impact of technological change on today’s socio-economic fabric, especially with respect to employment, income distribution, working conditions and labour relations. The authors argue that the processes of innovation and the spread of what they term “intelligent automation” are likely to exacerbate incumbent patterns of uneven income distribution and power, some of which existed well before the arrival of the technologies concerned, while others have emerged over the past 30 to 40 years. They venture to consider policy implications on the basis of such developments.
November 2019
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International Labour Review, Vol. 158 (2019), No. 4
Introduction: What does the future promise for work, employment and society?
23 November 2019
In introducing this double Special Issue, the authors draw on the articles contained therein to highlight the main areas for consideration in research on the future of work. They present the fast-paced changes affecting the world of work as offering an opportunity to move towards equality-inducing growth, while warning of the dangers posed by mismanaged technological change, inequalities (highlighting the persistent and intersectional nature of gender inequality), global supply chains and opportunities for social dialogue. In this light, they also propose policy recommendations focusing on strengthening worker protection and representative institutions, rethinking regulatory frameworks and taxation systems, and ensuring just transitions.
October 2019
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Article
What Asian countries should not miss while preparing the future of work
03 October 2019
OpEd by ILO economists Sara Elder, Christian Viegelahn and Tejeshwi Nath Bhattarai, authors of 'Preparing for the future of work: National policy responses in ASEAN +6', a study of how ASEAN+6 countries are preparing their labour markets for technological, climate and demographic changes.
July 2019
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© ILO / Crozet 2022
Q&A
Five questions about the ILO Centenary Declaration
01 July 2019
The International Labour Conference, held in June, adopted a landmark ILO Centenary Declaration. We look at the meaning of the declaration, which is focused on the future of work, but also reaffirms the 100-year-old mandate of the ILO.