New forces are transforming the world of work. The transitions involved call for decisive action.
Countless opportunities lie ahead to improve the quality of working lives, expand choice, close the gender gap, reverse the damages wreaked by global inequality, and much more. Yet none of this will happen by itself.
Without decisive action we will be heading into a world that widens existing inequalities and uncertainties.

Expanding youth populations in some parts of the world and ageing populations in others may place pressure on labour markets and social security systems, yet in these shifts lie new possibilities to afford care and inclusive, active societies.
We need to seize the opportunities presented by these transformative changes to create a brighter future and deliver economic security,
equal opportunity and social justice – and ultimately reinforce the fabric of our societies.

Seizing the moment: Reinvigorating the social contract
Forging this new path requires committed action on the part of governments as well as employers’ and workers’ organizations. They need to
reinvigorate the social contract that gives working people a just share of economic progress, respect for their rights and protection against
risk in return for their continuing contribution to the economy. Social dialogue can play a key role in ensuring the relevance of this contract
to managing the changes under way when all the actors in the world of work participate fully, including the many millions of workers who
are currently excluded.

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“The backlash highlights the need for a new social contract, one that adapts to changed economic realities and better manages the social implications of globalization. The social contract includes the payment of taxes in exchange for public goods, and the way that society looks after the old, the young, the infirm, and those who have fallen on hard times. Because the social contract is fundamentally values-driven, solutions will vary across societies. ”

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Analysis follows

Working poverty, informality and vulnerable employment are amongst the persistent challenges of Asia-Pacific labour markets according to a new ILO report. The report calls for coordinated policies to promote decent work as the link to translate economic growth into sustainable development in the region.

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The Least Developed Countries Report 2018 presents a compelling case for a structural transformation-centred approach to entrepreneurship policy in the least developed countries. The report underscores entrepreneurship policy based on a fundamental recognition of disparities in the contribution of different types of entrepreneurship to structural transformation and wealth creation. It establishes a more active and proactive stance for the State in steering the emergence of dynamic and transformational local entrepreneurship. Importantly, it calls upon the least developed countries not to overlook the pivotal and complementary role played by large enterprises, alongside medium-sized and smaller enterprises, with a view to the least developed countries formulating deliberate strategies to nurture entrepreneurship that has impact. By encouraging least developed country policymakers to avoid policies that might undervalue the benefits of entrepreneurship, this report makes an invaluable contribution to least developed country efforts to add value to their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Read more at:

https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ldcr2018_en.pdf