ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE

OF WORK IN CONTEMPORARY

HR PRACTICE

Nikolai Rogovsky, Ph.D.

Senior Economist

International Labour Office

Geneva, Switzerland

ORIGINS OF THE ILO

ILO was established in 1919 as part of the

Treaty of Versailles

Motivations:

poor working conditions everywhere

fear of “communism” and general social unrest

social justice viewed as the foundation for lasting

peace

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

(ILO)

“ universal and lasting peace can be established

only if it is based on social justice”

“The failure of any nation to adopt humane

conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of

other nations which desire to improve the

conditions in their own countries.”

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION

Tripartite (governments, employers, workers)

Specialized agency of the UN

Mainly standard-settings’ organization, but

recently – more technical /development

cooperation

ILO PRINCIPLE OBJECTIVES

Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work

Create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment

Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all

Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue

The ILO Centenary

Declaration “marks a

historic opportunity

to open a door to a

brighter future for

people around

the world.”

António Guterres

UN Secretary-General

The ILO must carry

forward in its

second century

with unrelenting vigour

its constitutional

mandate for

social justice.

Centenary Declaration

"

• Adopted by the Centenary Labour Conference (June 2019)

• Recognizes the transformational changes in world of work

• Calls for a human-centred approach to the future of work

• Reaffirms the ILO’s social justice mandate.

• Provides guidance for the ILO’s priorities and programme.

• Represents a crucial call to action for the ILO and its

member States.

CENTENARY DECLARATION

The world of work

is experiencing

transformative change,

driven by technological

innovations, demographic

shifts, climate change

and globalization.

CENTENARY DECLARATION

Transformative change in the world of work

[Need]…to reinvigorate

the Organization and

shape

a future of work that

realizes its founding

vision.

CENTENARY DECLARATION

Shaping the future of work

A human-centred

approach puts workers’

rights and the needs,

aspirations and rights of

all people at the heart of

economic, social and

environmental policies.

• Strengthened constituent capacity and mechanisms of social dialogue.

• Robust international labour standards and effective supervision.

• Harnessing economic, social and environmental transformations.

• Enabling entrepreneurship and sustainable enterprises.

• Enabling effective lifelong learning to facilitate access to and transitions

in labour market.

• Transformative agenda on gender equality.

• Effective protection for all workers.

• Comprehensive and sustainable social protection for all.

CENTENARY DECLARATION

An agenda and priorities for the ILO

CENTENARY DECLARATION

The approach focuses on

three priorities for action:

• Increasing investment in

people’s capabilities,

• Increasing investment in the

institutions of work, and

• Increasing investment in

decent and sustainable

work.

A HUMAN-CENTRED APPROACH:

CENTENARY DECLARATION -> “Work for a brighter future”

Report (Global Commission on the Future of Work)

INVESTING IN PEOPLE’S CAPABILITIES

1.1. Lifelong Learning for All

1.2. Supporting People Through Transitions

1.3. A Transformative Agenda for Gender

Equality

1.4. Strengthening Social Protection

Investing in people’s capabilities

Conceptual frame for policy response:

More than human capital (World Bank)

Sen’s capabilities approach:

“humans as the primary ends of development”

“humans as the principal means of development”

Life-stage transitions

Investing in people’s capabilities

What future & legacy challenges?

Uneven global distribution of education & training

for individuals to fulfil potential

Changing skill/task demands (lifelong) of new forms

of work organisation, technologies, etc.

Scarring social and economic costs of

exclusion/unemployment, especially youth

Pros and cons of extended working lives (ageing of

populations)

Lifelong learning for all

• Universal entitlement to lifelong learning

• Effective lifelong learning system:• Shared financing

• Right to paid time off to train (all workers)

• Digital learning (but not instead of well paid

teachers!!!)

Supporting people through transitions

• Invest in pathways for future of work transitions:• Youth: School to work/ quality apprenticeships/ entrepreneurs

• Older workers: Work to work (Europe)

• Flexible working, reduced hours, telework + decent pensions

• Support workers with disabilities

A transformative agenda for gender equality

• Make care an equal responsibility for women and

men

• Expand leave benefits & public care services (balance the roles of the State and the family)

• Account for unpaid care work (measure and re-

value)

• Strengthen women’s collective representation

• Adopt gender equality measures in tech-enabled

jobs

• Eliminate gender-based discrimination

• Pay transparency

• Affirmative action

• End sexual harassment and violence at work

Strengthening social protection

• Social protection and benefits portability

• Move from unemployment insurance to

“employment insurance”

• Social inclusion

• Guaranteed universal social protection

from birth to old age

INVESTING IN THE INSTITUTIONS OF

WORK

2.1. Establishing a Universal Labour Guarantee

2.2. Expanding Time Sovereignty

2.3. Revitalizing Collective

Representation

2.4. Technology for Decent Work

Establish a Universal Labour Guarantee

Provide a labour protection floor for all workers:

• Fundamental workers’ rights (freedom of association

and right to collective bargaining, freedom from forced

labour, child labour and discrimination)

• Basic working conditions (adequate living wage,

maximum hours of work, safe and healthy workplace),

accompanied by productivity increases

Expand time sovereignty

Craft working time arrangements to give workers

greater choice over schedules:• To balance work and private life, subject to company’s

flexibility needs

• Guaranteed minimum hours

• Premium pay for variable hours work

Revitalizing collective representation

Actively promote collective representation of

workers and employers and social dialogue

through public policies:

• Employers’ bodies must adapt their services;

also engage with MNCs

• Unions must adopt innovative organising

techniques, especially for informal employment

• Policy options: company workplace

representation, collective bargaining, tripartite

pacts

Technology for decent work

Harness and manage technology in support of

decent work:

• Human in command approach to technology

• Regulate data use and algorithmic accountability

• Worker access to own data

INVESTING IN DECENT AND SUSTAINABLE

WORK

3.1. Transforming Economies for Decent and

Sustainable Work

3.2. Shifting Incentives: Towards a

Human-Centred Business and

Economic Agenda

Transforming economies to promote

decent and sustainable work

Promote investments in the Green economy

• Requires international development financing

initiatives

• Extend stakeholder representation

• Align the ‘enabling environment for business success’

with needs of the planet and society

• New accounting standards for health & environmental

externalities

• International cooperation on tax evasion and fair tax

policy

Shifting Incentives: Towards a

Human-Centred Business and

Economic Agenda

• Better alignment of the enabling environment for

business success with the conditions for

implementation of the human-centred agenda

• New challenges (megatrends)

FUTURE OF WORK: STRATEGIC THINKING,

STRATEGIC PLANNING, BUSINESS MODELS, HR

POLICIES AND PRACTICES

Strategic thinking (Megatrends)

Strategic planning

Business models, HR policies and

practices

Sustain

ability

function

HUMAN-CENTRED AGENDA – KEY HR

CHALLENGES - 1

How do the global “megatrends” (such as AI

and other disruptive technologies) change

corporate business models, policies and

practices?

What are the implications of the introduction

of new technologies (including robots) for

companies’ skills and workplace requirements?

ROBOT BARTENDER

CREATIVE BARTENDER

CLASSICAL BARTENDER

HUMAN-CENTRED AGENDA – KEY HR

CHALLENGES - 2

As we more from job security to employment security,

workers need more transferable skills. Who is responsible

for development of these skills?

What are the companies’ expectations regarding the role of

public educational institutions in the development of new

skills?

To what extent companies feel that they should take a lead

in re-skilling rather than relying on the public institutions

and other actors (including private educational/training

institutions and other companies)?

HUMAN-CENTRED AGENDA – KEY HR

CHALLENGES - 3

What are the tools that companies are using to

re-skill (and thereby motivate and retain)

those workers who will be expected to work

with new technologies and machines

(including robots)?

Is there a business case for the companies in

taking a lead on re-skilling?

Does job crafting help in addressing these

challenges? If it does, what can the companies

do to encourage it?

HUMAN-CENTRED AGENDA – KEY HR

CHALLENGES - 4

Does the introduction of new technologies lead

to de-skilling of the corporate workforce and/or

to changing requirements for job candidates?

What are the implications of new technologies

for job/task descriptions and corporate

“internal labour markets”?

While facing the introduction of new

technologies and techniques, how do

companies make choices between retraining

existing workers and hiring?

HUMAN-CENTRED AGENDA – KEY HR

CHALLENGES - 5

What are the differences in attitudes of

younger versus older workers in coping with

new technologies at work (enabling or

hindering transitions, retention and social

mobility)?

QUESTION AND ANSWER

SESSION