Q1/2019 - Global Commission on the Future of Work (ILO)

Geneva, 22 January 2019

On 22 January 2019, the co-chairs of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and the President of South Africa, Matamela Cyrill Ramaphosa, presented their final report. The commission of 23 members, including the former State Secretary at the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Thorben Albrecht, had been established in 2016 to organise the centenary of ILO in summer 2019.

The report gives a detailed analysis of the changes in the labour market. It sees both great opportunities but also risks in the future developments, which will be driven primarily by new technologies, such as the Internet. “There will be new jobs, but those who lose their jobs in this transition may be the least equipped to seize the new opportunities. Today`s skills will not match the jobs of tomorrow.” The report also highlights the paradox between a growing young population in the developing countries and an ageing population in the developed countries. It points out that this situation is a hotbed for new problems on the labour market and with regard to social systems.

The Commission finds that the problems emerging as a result of the digitalisation will not solve themselves but require deliberate political action. It suggests striving for “Reinvigorating the Social Contract” to create decent and sustainable jobs for all. However, this requires a comprehensive social dialogue between governments, companies and employees. Designed as a trilateral organisation, the ILO is well prepared to assume a key role in this dialogue, says the report.

The report comprises 78 pages. The ten recommendations included are grouped into three sections and request to invest more in “Peoples Capabilities”, “Institutions of Work” and “Decent and Sustainable Work”[1]. The report provides the basis for the Annual Session of the ILO planned for this summer to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ILO.

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Q1/2019ILO
  1. [1] Global Commission on the Future of Work: Work for a Brighter Future, International Lablour Organisation (ILO), Geneva, 22 January 2019, Executive Summary: Recommendations “1. Increasing investment in people’s capabilities i. A universal entitlement to lifelong learning that enables people toacquire skills and to reskill and upskill; ii.Stepping up investments in the institutions, policies and strategies that will support people through future of work transitions; iii. Implementing a transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality; iv. Providing universal social protection from birth to old age. 2. Increasing investment in the institutions of work; v. Establishing a Universal Labour Guarantee; vi. Expanding time sovereignty; vii. Ensuring collective representation of workers and employers through social dialogue as a public good, actively promoted through public policies; viii. Harnessing and managing technology for decent work, 3. Increasing investment in decent and sustainable work; ix. Incentives to promote investments in key areas for decent and sustainable work, x. Reshaping business incentive structures for longer-term investment approaches and exploring supplementary indicators of human development and well-being.” See: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/publication/wcms_662539.pdf