Director-General, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Guy Ryder, has called on global leaders to shape a future of work inspired by considerations of humanity, of social justice and peace.
Ryder, who spoke during the ILO Global Dialogue with the theme: The Future of Work We Want, in Geneva recently, said “the future of work must be inspired by considerations of humanity, of social justice and peace.
“We now need to transform our thinking into results, into concrete outcomes,” he added. “We need to address the concerns of that young person, wondering if there is a future of work for them.”
The head of the ILO emphasised the need to promote innovation and development, and at the same time maintain the organisation’s social objectives.
The two-day meeting on social justice and peace, which brought together leading economists, academics and representatives of governments and the social partners as well as employers’ and workers’ organisations, focused on the profound changes sweeping the world of work.
Keynote Speaker, Lord Robert Skidelsky, of the University of Warwick in the UK, noted that international solutions were needed to harmonise the process of adaptation to the future of work.
According to him, “We can’t leave it all to the market. We can’t stop innovation but we can manage it.”
He reminded the audience that the future of work was a global issue that merited a global response, as well as “taking into consideration the diverse circumstances of our 187 member States and the importance of sharing experiences among them.”
The Global Dialogue was part of a broader ILO Centenary Initiative to investigate the future of work and better understand the drivers of unprecedented change, including technological innovation, the organisation of work and production, globalization, climate change, migration and demography, among others.
It also featured a special session on how to shape the future of work for youth, with a particular focus on the transition from school to work, the organisation of the world of work and its regulation.
The initiative is seeking to broadly canvas the views of key actors in the world of work on all of these issues.
More than 167 countries have taken part in the ILO initiative so far, with 107 of them participating in national and regional dialogues that have been or are being held all around the world.
Their conclusions, is expected to help inform a High Level Global Commission on the Future of Work, to be established by the ILO later this year, even as the report of the commission would feed into discussions on a Centenary Declaration at the 2019 International Labour Conference.
Our correspondent reports that more than 700 participants attended the event with thousands other joining and participating via the internet and social media.
