EMPLOYMENT

Employment is at the core of ILO's mandate. Without productive employment, the goals of decent living standards, social and economic development and persona fulfillment remain illusory. While ILO has the Employment Policy Convention, there is no consensus on the policies most likely to create jobs. For some, the issue is one of growth. For others, it is labour market flexibility. Some believe that the answer lies in human skills and capabilities, others in policies to share out available work.

Employment problems are not easily summed up in bare figures. Global ILO estimates suggest that 150 million people are fully unemployed; but this is only the tip of the iceberg, for many more are forced to eke out a living in casual or occasional jobs, low-productivity self-employment or other forms of underemployment. Where open unemployment is low, closer examination often suggests that low-quality, low-income work takes its place, or that large numbers of workers - usually mainly women - are excluded from the statistics. Despite years of effort, this situation shows no sign of improving.

On the contrary, many countries, which could have reported success on the employment front a few years ago, now face new problems. Unemployment has re-emerged in East Asia. Transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe face persistent labour market problems. In Latin America one can observe both rising unemployment and steady in formalization. African employment problems remain intractable. Employment has grown in some OECD countries, notably the United States, but high unemployment persists in others.