ILO warns of widespread insecurity in the global labour market

How is the world of work changing? Are permanent contracts the norm or the exception? Discover the new World Employment and Social Outlook 2015 (WESO).

Raymond Torres, Head of the ILO Research department, introduces the new annual flagship report “World Employment and Social Outlook 2015: The Changing Nature of Jobs” to be launched by the International Labour Organization.

GENEVA, 19 May 2015 (ILO News) – Only one quarter of workers worldwide is estimated to have a stable employment relationship, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The World Employment and Social Outlook 2015 (WESO)   finds that, among countries with available data (covering 84 per cent of the global workforce), three quarters of workers are employed on temporary or short-term contracts, in informal jobs often without any contract, under own-account arrangements or in unpaid family jobs.

Over 60 per cent of all workers lack any kind of employment contract, with most of them engaged in own-account* or contributing family work in the developing world. However, even among wage and salaried workers, less than half (42 per cent) are working on a permanent contract.

Focus of the report

The 2015 edition focuses on the way in which changing forms of work and workplace organization are having an impact on enterprises, workers and the broader world of work.

It presents the latest statistics on wage and salaried employment, both globally and regionally, and captures the share of fixed-term and part-time contracts.

The report also looks at global supply chains and provides statistics on the number of workers involved.

Finally, it includes policy recommendations on how to reduce growing inequalities through social protection and labour regulation.