Focus should be on humans

A high-powered global commission of International Labour Organization (ILO) in a report yesterday recommended that global leaders and businesspeople shape work in a way so that the focus remains on humans in the future.

The suggestion comes against the backdrop of apprehensions of workers in many countries over job losses in the advent of automation or artificial intelligence.

The commission made 10 other recommendations which also focused on people perspectives and decent jobs worldwide.

The list includes ensuring a universal guarantee protecting workers' fundamental rights, adequate living wages, limits on hours of work and safe and healthy workplaces.

It also seeks guaranteed social protection from birth to old age supporting people's needs over the life cycle and a universal entitlement to lifelong learning that enables people to skill, reskill and upskill.

The commission also proposed managing technological changes to boost decent work, including an international governance system for digital labour platforms, and greater investments in care, green and rural economies.

It also sought a transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality.

Co-chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, the commission report on “Global Commissions on the Future of Work” was launched worldwide yesterday.

Over the past 18 months, the ILO's tripartite constituents -- governments, employers and worker organisations -- have held national dialogues in over 110 countries, the outcomes of which have been fed into this report.

“Countless opportunities lie ahead to improve the quality of working lives, expand choice, close the gender gap, reverse the damages wreaked by global inequality. Yet none of this will happen by itself,” said the report. 

“Without decisive action we will be sleepwalking into a world that widens existing inequalities and uncertainties,” adds the report.

It outlines the challenges caused by new technology, climate change and demography and calls for a collective global response to the disruptions those were causing in the world of work.

Artificial intelligence, automation and robotics will lead to job losses, as skills become obsolete. However, these same technological advances, along with the greening of economies, will also create millions of jobs – if new opportunities are seized, said the report.

The report is the culmination of a 15-month examination by the 27-member commission, which is made up of leading figures from business and labour, think tanks, academia and government and non-governmental organisations.

“The ILO Global Commission Report on the Future of Work is a vital contribution to global understanding of the changes occurring – and that will continue to unfold – in the world of work,” said Ramaphosa.

“The report should stimulate engagement and partnerships within and between national and regional jurisdictions to ensure that the global economy and global society becomes more equitable, just and inclusive,” he said.

“At the same it should inspire global action to contain or eliminate challenges that humanity has inflicted on itself in the course of history,” Ramaphosa said.

“The world of work is undergoing great changes. They create many opportunities for more and better jobs. But governments, trade unions and employers need to work together, to make economies and labour markets more inclusive,” said Löfven.

“Such a social dialogue can help make globalisation work for everyone,” he said.

“The issues highlighted in this report matter to people everywhere and to the planet,” commented ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

“Globally, we are experiencing major changes in the workplace with the advent of new technologies, the 'gig' economy and the adverse impact of climate change on production and employment,” said ILO Country Director in Bangladesh Tuomo Poutiainen.

“We should not see this as a threat but an opportunity to further promote decent work and equal opportunities,” he said.

“The private sector, the workforce and Bangladesh's youth all play a vital role in this period of change to ensure that everyone reaps the greatest social and economic benefits,” said Poutiainen.

“Ultimately, technology does not shape us but we harness it to shape the future of work,” he said.