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Global Commission on the Future of Work

ILO Global Commission shapes framework for final report

The third meeting of the Global Commission on the Future of Work focussed on key themes of next year’s landmark report.

Press release | 18 May 2018
GENEVA (ILO News) – The Global Commission on the Future of Work has begun shaping the framework and recommendations for its final report, following discussions at its third meeting in Geneva on 15-17 May.

During the discussions, members looked at various themes that are likely to inform the report, which will be published in 2019 – the ILO’s Centenary year – including new forms of work; the impact on work of the shifts in global demographics; digitalization and its implications; lifelong learning; inclusivity and gender equality; the measurement of work and human well-being; and attaining sustainable development.


Within those themes, the 28-member Commission touched on numerous issues including youth employment, skills, income inequality, informality, the rural economy, the digital divide and gender equality. They also discussed the institutional ramifications of the future of work.

Over the weeks prior to this third meeting, five Global Commission policy dialogues took place involving experts, organizations and other agencies which looked at many of these issues in significant depth.

At the end of the Commission discussions, the Commissioners agreed the next steps ahead of their final meeting 15–17 November, which will discuss the final draft of the report.

After its publication in early 2019, ILO constituents – government, employer and worker representatives – will have an opportunity to consider the findings, prior to the Centenary International Labour Conference (ILC) in June next year.

Note: The Global Commission was set up in 2017 to assess the transformative changes taking place in the world of work and to make recommendations on the way forward. It marks the second stage of the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative, launched by ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, in 2013, following the first phase during which ILO member States convened national and sub-regional dialogues to provide their perspectives on the future of work.