Mutually reinforcing crises, including rising debt levels, are disproportionately affecting developing countries, worsening the global employment divide between high-income and low-income countries and widening existing inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While global unemployment in 2023 is expected to fall below pre-pandemic levels – to 191 million, corresponding to a global unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent – estimates show that low-income countries remain far behind in the recovery process , according to the ILO Monitor on the World of Work.

The transition to a circular economy could lead to the creation of millions of new jobs. At the same time, this shift calls for informed policies that promote both job quality and environmental sustainability. However, a new ILO report has shown a lack of research in developing countries, where the vast majority of waste management and recycling jobs are located. It has been estimated that a total of seven to eight million new jobs could be created in the circular economy, where all forms of waste, such as clothes, scrap metal and obsolete electronics are reused, recycled and refurbished.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has attracted massive hype, including fears that it will be impossible to regulate or control. It's already creating, destroying and re-shaping jobs and business practices. So how will AI really affect the world of work? Can it help to address any of the big problems we currently face such as inequality, stagnant productivity and inadequate fundamental rights? And how can businesses and workers prepare to avoid the pitfalls of AI and make the most of the benefits it offers? 

Antonio Casilli, one of the co-founders of the INDL and Stacie Haller, Chief Career Advisor at ResumeBuilder(dot)com explore the possibilities together with  Sophy Fisher, ILO's Senior Communication and Public Information Officer.

Photo: iStock.com/gorodenkoff

Meet Alma Gladys, a beneficiary of the Rural Employment Services Model under the ILO PROSPECTS project which is implemented in partnership with AVSI Foundation.

ILO is calling for safer working conditions and greater respect for sanitation workers.

In June 2022, the International Labour Conference decided to include “a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work. This year, the ILO celebrates this decision on World Day for Safety and Health, bringing together experts and constituents to discuss the implications it has for the world of work. Join the ILO global dialogue on how to implement a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EDT.

ILO presents Design Thinking Workshop which allows to identify needs of persons with disabilities for supporting the design of social protection benefits enabling inclusion into labour market.

Olinda Silvano is an artist and leader in a Shipibo-Conibo indigenous community in Peru’s capital city, Lima. She is determined to overcome the challenges she and her people face, including discrimination, lack of social protection and housing. She believes education is the best inheritance we can give.  Explore the full multimedia story on ILO’s Voices.

Digital technology and artificial intelligence present important challenges to equality in the workplace and in society. As workplaces transition towards a digital future, we are already seeing that existing gender equality gaps are being reproduced in the digital realm.

In the first of our Future of Work podcast mini-series on artificial intelligence and the world of work - and to mark International Women’s Day, Dr. Orly Lobel explores the important role digital technologies can play in creating a brighter and more inclusive future of work, and some of the surprising ways they are already being used in workplaces today together with ILO's Anders Johnsson. 

Photo: WOCinTech/Unsplash

Productivity is slowing in advanced economies and the trend has spread to emerging economies. The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2023 report, described productivity as “key to addressing today’s multiple crises” and “a linchpin of a just transition”. How can productivity be improved and how can those gains be channelled to build the foundations of a just transition to a more sustainable and equitable future? 

In this latest edition of the Future of Work podcast, ILO's Sophy Fisher finds out with José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC and Daniel Samaan, ILO's Senior Macro-economist. 

Fleeing Congo’s civil war, widowed Angelique Kahindo, trekked her way through the treacherous Congo jungles with her children until she reached Nakivake refugee settlement in southern Uganda. Through ILO PROSPECTS, she was shortlisted for a six month apprenticeship, where she learned and perfected her tailoring skills. The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement ever recorded. In recent years, forced displacement has increased not only in scale but also in complexity.  PROSPECTS, spearheaded by the Government of Netherlands in partnerships with several international bodies, was initiated to improve the access of host communities and forcibly displaced people to employment and livelihood opportunities.

The number of children without access to social protection is increasing year-on-year, leaving them at risk of poverty, hunger and discrimination, according to a new report by the ILO and UNICEF.

As Sri Lanka experiences its worst economic crisis, the most vulnerable groups are forced to grapple with further exacerbated challenges. Especially for those engaged in the agriculture and fisheries sector, their livelihoods have been severely disrupted on all fronts. In the present situation, ILO Sri Lanka’s LEED+ project is supporting vulnerable members of the farming community in the Northern Province through short-term employment in infrastructure developments. 

I was 21 when a mountain biking accident left me without the use of my legs. I want people to know that 1) anyone with any disability can be independent, 2) a disabled person can be productive on a farm.

Mary Nkisonkoi is a community project facilitator in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya and a beneficiary of an ILO project aimed to reduce poverty and improve living conditions through decent work.