ILO releases 2024 report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations

The Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), which is a cornerstone of the ILO‘s supervisory system on international labour standards, has published its annual report . The report provides an independent expert analysis of the extent to which each ILO Member State’s law and practice are in conformity with ratified ILO Conventions. It outlines how Member States are fulfilling the obligations they have freely undertaken under the ILO Constitution in relation to international labour standards. It also provides a brief account of its interactive exchange with…

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AI’s role in evaluating job prestige and value spotlighted by new ILO research

New research on how artificial intelligence (AI) evaluates the prestige and social value of occupations has been published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), shedding light on the potential for risks of using such methods for sociological and occupational research. The paper, A Technological Construction of Society: Comparing GPT-4 and Human Respondents for Occupational Evaluation in the UK , compares evaluations of occupations made by GPT-4 (a type of Large Language Model (LLM) AI that can recognize and generate text) with those of a high-quality survey undertaken in the United Kingdom.…

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Global unemployment rate set to increase in 2024 while growing social inequalities raise concerns, says ILO report

Labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report. The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends: 2024  (WESO Trends) finds that both the unemployment rate and the jobs gap rate – which is the number of persons without employment who are interested in finding a job – have fallen below pre-pandemic levels. The 2023 global unemployment rate stood at…

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ILO and UNIDO reinforce their cooperation

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have agreed to reinforce their longstanding cooperation to accelerate sustainable and inclusive development. The enhanced collaboration between the agencies will prioritize five key areas: skills development, sustainable supply chains, support for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), agribusiness, rural entrepreneurship for jobs and food security (even during crises), a Just Transition to eco-friendly economies, and joint efforts in statistics and policy advice. An updated Working Arrangement, designed to strengthen progress on SDG 8 (sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic…

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Renewables Jobs Nearly Doubled in Past Decade, Soared to 13.7 Million in 2022

Worldwide employment in renewable energy reached 13.7 million in 2022, an increase of one million since 2021 and up from a total of 7.3 million in 2012, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The tenth edition of Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2023, is the product of a continuing collaboration between the two agencies. The report found that renewable energy is attracting increasing investment, leading to job creation in a growing number of countries. However, as in…

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