Employment promotion
Employment promotion and decent jobs creation are central to enabling countries to address the multiple transitions their societies, economies and labour markets are undergoing due to climate change, demographic shifts and technological developments. Achieving the goal of full, productive, and freely chosen employment, tackling poverty and inequalities and ensuring an inclusive structural transformation is essential for making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 8, and requires comprehensive employment policy frameworks that address both short- and longer-term impacts of such change.
This includes promoting pro-employment macroeconomic, sectoral and labour market policies that are critical to ensuring social, economic and environmental transitions. It also includes the creation of quality jobs in the green, circular, digital and care economies; multi-stakeholder engagement; social dialogue; and the strengthening of partnerships for coordinated, coherent and integrated policy responses, including through the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions. These are key solutions to strengthening productive capacities, creating more and better jobs and promoting formalization. Read more
News and articles
Global challenges - Global solutions podcast
Micro-credentials: Powerful new learning tool, or just “pouring old wine into new bottles”?
A Hope for Decent and Sustainable Livelihoods and Social Cohesion in Türkiye: "I’m Trained for My Job" Program
Ongoing and upcoming events
Masterclass Series “The SKILLS Bridge”
Episode 7 - Revolutionizing Skill Development: India's Sector Skills Councils
Focus areas
Employment policies
The ILO supports Member States and social partners in developing and implementing employment policies to address multiple challenges in the world of work. The Employment Policy Action Facility (EPAF) offers Member States a gateway for accessing innovative and agile solutions for forging comprehensive employment policies that are evidence-based, human-centred and founded on social dialogue.
Employment intensive investments
Employment services
Employment Impact Assessment
Investing in transitions for decent jobs
Featured
UN Women - ILO Policy Tool
Assessing the employment situation in five countries and promoting a gender responsive structural transformation
Guidelines
Guidelines on Green Employment Diagnostics for Just Transitions
Publications
Research Paper No.20
The effects of automation in the apparel and footwear industries and their gender dimensions: Indonesia case study
Technical note
ILO care policy investment simulator: Technical note
ILO Working Paper 115
Imbalances between supply and demand Recent causes of labour shortages in advanced economies
Podcast: Global Challenges - Global solutions
The Employment podcast series focuses attention on the impact of megatrends on labour markets worldwide and the emerging challenges and opportunities. They offer a human-centred approach to policymaking that help shift economies to a new and better future of work.
Featured projects
Building partnerships on the future of work
Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work
Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in care
Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED)
Employment impact assessment to maximize job creation in Africa (STRENGTHEN2)
Mainstreaming Employment into Trade and Investment in the Southern Neighbourhood (METI)
Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions
A UN initiative aiming to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support the creation of decent jobs, primarily in the green, digital and care economies, and to extend social protection to people who are excluded.
Key resources
International Labour Conference.110/Resolution IV
Guiding principles for coherent, comprehensive and integrated employment policy
International instruments
Key international labour standards on employment