In particular, he said: 
“We should develop new approaches to education and working time arrangements. People should have an opportunity for lifetime learning. According to forecasts, more than 2 million self-driving cars will be sold over the next 5 years, only to exceed 10 million in further 5 years. We need to discuss the future of driving as a profession”.

Speaking of the evolving labour market, Mr. Medvedev said: “It is quite possible that the future is for a four-day working week”. He referred to Henry Ford, a US entrepreneur, who one hundred years ago reduced the working week at his factories from 48 to 40 hours thus achieving higher labour productivity.

Dmitry Medvedev reminded that in the last century Russia had lived through one of the bloodiest revolutions in human history. “Ignoring the challenges faced by workers is fraught with gloomy implications”, he said.

On the margins of the conference Dmitry Medvedev held a number of bilateral meetings including with Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization.


Dmitry Medvedev congratulated Guy Ryder on the occasion of the ILO Centenary. At the meeting the ILO Director-General noted that fruitful cooperation is building up between the ILO and Russia and underlined that Russia is actively implementing the provisions of ILO Conventions, in particular, those related to relationship between trade unions and employers.