In a world facing growing uncertainty, multiple transformative changes are buffeting the world of work. Will these changes mean people and countries are being left behind, or provide opportunities for a new approach to employment policies that can improve people’s livelihoods, and make economies grow sustainably and produce decent and productive jobs?

In this podcast we ask two experts from the ILO’s Employment Policy, Job Creation and Livelihoods Department, Sher Verick and Elina Scheja how the recently launched knowledge sharing and technical assistance platform called the Employment Policy Action Facility provides a new starting point for addressing this challenge.

Innovative employment policies in a changing world of work: A new paradigm?

Advancing social justice is an idea that’s getting new attention these days. One of the main areas where the need for social justice is growing as something people want is the world of work. Achieving that will be a tall order, given that more and more people are looking for jobs and more and more jobs looking for people to fill them. In this challenging environment, what role can research and dialogue play?  This podcast asks two top experts, Sangheon Lee, Director of the ILO’s Employment Policy, Job Creation & Livelihoods Department, and Mikel Landabaso, Director, Fair & Sustainable Economy of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC).

The quest for social justice: The role of research and dialogue

The world of work is undergoing profound change. These changes are creating skills gaps, mismatches and shortages that are resulting in unfilled jobs and lost productivity.
 
So how do we close this skills gap? In search of an answer, the ILO has adopted a sweeping new international labour standard focused on updating its approach to skills and quality apprenticeships. 

The new “Recommendation on Quality Apprenticeships, No. 208” is designed to help workers and employers find ways to skill, reskill and upskill people to adapt to rapidly changing labour markets. 

But how will it work in practice? In this podcast Martin Henry, Research, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator of Education International in Brussels, and Kathryn Rowan, Executive Director of GAN, the Global Apprenticeship Network based in Geneva, share their insights.

How can we close the skills gap? Quality apprenticeships and the future of work

The world of work is being buffeted by a torrent of change, with multiple crises raising the magnitude and complexity of employment challenges to unprecedented levels.

Labour markets have been hit by disruptive mega-trends that weren’t on our radar just a decade ago. 

These range from challenges we already know like gender disparities, informality and youth unemployment, to new and emerging issues, like climate change, increasing digitalization and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

So how does this impact national employment policies for promoting employment? In this podcast, we interview ILO Employment Policy Expert Sher Verick on this subject.

Addressing major labour market challenges in the world of work: Implications for promoting jobs

The number of ageing workers in the workforce is growing. People are working longer, either because they want to, they need to to make ends meet or have because they have unique skills. So, what are the implications of this trend for the trade union movement? What does it mean for older workers and their representatives? And how can trade unions address the multiple challenges that are emerging as the workforce ages? In this podcast we explore these trends with Plamen Dimitrov, President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria and member of the Workers’ Group of the ILO Governing Body.

Challenges and opportunities of an ageing workforce: A worker’s perspective

Good employment policies underpin efforts to create more and better jobs, and help reduce inequalities and poverty, and empower people, especially women, young people and the most vulnerable such as people with disabilities. What is more, these polices also help address decent work deficits and are critically important to the realization of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 8, on promoting sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. In this podcast, Juan Chacaltana, ILO Senior Employment Policies Specialist in the Employment Policy Department, and Alina Game, Technical Officer and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) expert, explain how Employment Impact Assessments involving a variety of tools for evidence-based policy development can help achieve these goals.

Employment Impact Assessment: What we know and why it matters

Can Nature-based Solutions help us address environmental challenges, while laying the groundwork for creating millions of new jobs? A report by the ILO, the UN Environment Programme and the International Union for Conservation of Nature titled “Decent Work in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) says NbS has the potential to add up to 32 million jobs by 2030 to the already more than 60 million working to protect, and restore and sustainably use natural resources with the greatest gains in Africa, Latin America and the Arab States. At the same time, NbS will also require new skills training and reskilling of some workers. In this podcast, two lead editors of the report, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, Senior Technical Specialist of the ILO Employment Policy Department, and Rowan Palmer, Programme Officer in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Economic and Trade Policy Unit explain.

Nature-based Solutions: How protecting the planet can create jobs

In the past half decade, the world of work has faced unprecedented challenges in the form of a global pandemic, social, political and economic crises, the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence, and an increase in destructive climate events, among others. 

Meeting these challenges will require policies that support SDG 8 on decent jobs and economic growth and help advance the broader objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

So how do we address these policy and macroeconomic challenges while ensuring that employment policies help bridge jobs and economic growth, address broader economic realities and protect labour rights? In this podcast, ILO Employment Policy Director Sangheon Lee and Gilad Isaacs, Executive Director at the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) in South Africa offer their views. 


Can we bridge jobs and economic policies while ensuring rights are protected?

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations and is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity.

Today, the ILO helps advance the creation of decent work and the economic and working conditions that give working people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress. Its tripartite structure provides a unique platform for promoting decent work for all women and men. 

Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

New tracks tagged #employment policies