Digital jobs in the future of work
International Labour Organisation
Session 326
Action Line Facilitation Meeting C7:E-employment
This session will discuss opportunities and challenges of a growing digital economy and increasing digitalization of jobs in a post COVID pandemic and its implications on the world of work. It will address the trade-offs and difficult policy choices arising from a digital transformation of employment.
Panelists from ILO, OECD, IMF and ITU will discuss these burning issues while highlighting what their respective organisations are doing on the subject.
Background:
Work as we know it is changing rapidly. This is not new; and in fact, we have been witnessing this transformation for a while. However, the COVID19 pandemic has given this changing trend a big push, a disruption. Before the Pandemic, we were discussing scenarios for the future of work. With the Pandemic, many elements of that future are already here. In particular, it is pushing towards a more rapid transformation into a digitalized or tech-based ways of work, and solutions. The challenge from a policy perspective is to make sure that social justice and equality is not lost in the process, as new forms of business and work emerge from intensified digitalization.
It is important to note that the world of work was facing significant challenges before the pandemic. With high levels of inequality, gender-based and other types of discrimination, a high share of working poor, etc. The pandemic disrupted normal life, “a before and after scenario”, with a sudden expansion of the digital sector, thus potentially transforming the composition of labour demand, which is critical especially for the new entrants into the labour market- the youth. Even if vaccines are rolled out efficiently, and containment measures are withdrawn, the COVID crisis has brought about major changes to the way we work, and these trends are likely to expand further. Though not all jobs will go in this direction, more and more jobs will have a digital component, or rely on digital technologies, irrespective of which sector in the economy these jobs are. This fast changing nature of jobs will require drastic changes in the way employment, labour market and skills policies are developed and implemented.
Furthermore, the rapid growth of digital technologies has widened the gap between countries and increased inequalities between different groups of workers, and in particular for youth. While less developed countries have been relatively less affected by the pandemic in some senses, the fall out of the growth of use of digital technologies has impacted them in significant ways, and widened the digital gap within and between countries. Reliance on digital technologies has also disrupted education of children and young people and made their transition to the labour market more difficult.
In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development SDG 8 focuses on “promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. In this context, it is urgent to address: decent work deficits arising from digital transformation as well as the increasing digital divide (inequality) within and between countries that impacts the world of work.
The international community is addressing many of these issues. The ILO, for example, highlights in it’s Centenary Declaration the need for policies to shape a human-centred future of work.
Sebastián Nieto Parra is Head of the Latin American and Caribbean Unit at the OECD Development Centre. He manages the Latin American Economic Outlook, in partnership with CAF, ECLAC and the European Commission, the OECD Multi-Dimensional Country Reviews of Latin America, the Revenue Statistics and Well-Being in Latin America and the Caribbean. He has participated and coordinated a series of OECD reports on development. Before joining the OECD, Mr. Nieto-Parra was an Senior Economist for Latin America at Santander Bank, Madrid. Prior to that, he worked at the Central Bank of Colombia (Banco de la República) and the Colombian Ministry of Finance. He completed his graduate studies in Economics at Sciences Po Paris and Toulouse School of Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from Sciences Po Paris.
James Tebrake is currently the Assistant Director of the Statistics Department at the International Monetary Fund. His main responsibilities include overseeing the Fund’s national accounts and price statistics programs. James’ current research includes developing improved frameworks and methods to account for the digitalization, the informal economy, globalization, well-being and sustainability. Prior to joining the IMF in August 2019 James held several positions at Statistics Canada including, Assistant Chief Statistician, Economic Statistics and Director General of the Macroeconomic Accounts Branch at Statistics Canada, where he managed Canada’s national accounts, balance of payments and government finance statistics programs.
Sukti Dasgupta is Chief, Employment and Labour Markets Branch with the ILO Office in Geneva. She previously worked in the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok and in the field offices in South Asia and East Asia. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. She has published widely in the areas of employment, poverty and gender. She has extensive experience working with policy makers on employment and labour market policies.
Maria Prieto is an Employment and Future of Work Specialist. Her current work in the Employment and Labour Markets Branch in the ILO Office in Geneva focus on issues related to ongoing and future changes in the world of work and youth employment in the context of national employment policies. Maria has more than seventeen years of professional experience in the United Nations (ILO and UNDP) in positions that included thematic areas such as youth employment, local economic and social development, public-private partnerships for urban environment, small and micro enterprises, informal economy and infrastructure development. Maria holds a degree of Master of Science in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
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C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-employment
C7
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Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
