On June 2, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland, the 113th International Labour Conference began. This event serves as the general assembly of the ILO — the International Labour Organization.
There, delegates from the 187 Member States (representing governments, employers, and workers from each country) discuss a wide range of topics related to the world of work. Among these are potential new international standards on the protection of workers against biological hazards in the workplace, innovative approaches to promote transitions from the informal to the formal economy, and decent work in the platform economy.
Two Reports with Relevant Data
The opening of the Conference coincides with the recent release of an updated ILO report, World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO), which revises downward the job creation forecast for 2025 — from 60 million to 53 million jobs, reflecting a decrease in the projected growth rate from 1.7% to 1.5% for this year.
One of the most concerning findings in the report is the decline in the share of labour income in global GDP, which fell from 53% to 52.4% between 2014 and 2024. The drop was even more pronounced in Africa and the Americas. This significant figure clearly illustrates the growing global inequality and calls into question any linear relationship between economic growth and workers’ compensation.
The report states that, as of 2024, formal employment globally has increased by 12.6% compared to 2014. However, during the same period, informal employment grew even more, reaching 13.7%. More than 2 billion people were in informal employment in 2024, representing 57.8% of the global labour force. This figure highlights the persistent structural challenges in formalizing employment worldwide.
Regarding new technologies — particularly artificial intelligence — the report finds that a significant majority of workers (76.2%) are in occupations with minimal or no exposure to these technologies.
In lower-skilled occupations, most workers remain shielded from direct impacts. However, the remaining 23.8% face varying levels of exposure to generative artificial intelligence.
For this reason, the report emphasizes the imperative for states and social actors to proactively manage the transition toward more skills-intensive economies.
Only through appropriate public policies will it be possible to ensure that the integration of generative AI contributes effectively to the promotion of decent and sustainable jobs for all.
On this topic, another ILO document — this time produced jointly with institutions from Poland and published on May 20 under the title Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure — states that one in four jobs worldwide is potentially exposed to generative artificial intelligence, although transformation — rather than replacement — is the most likely outcome.
The main conclusions of this study, in addition to the one mentioned above, are as follows:
- Women’s exposure remains significantly higher. In high-income countries, jobs most at risk of automation account for 9.6% of female employment, compared to 3.5% among men.
- Administrative jobs are the most exposed, due to the theoretical ability of generative AI to automate many of their tasks, along with sectors such as media, software, and finance.
- Full automation of jobs remains limited, as many tasks — even if they can be performed more efficiently — still require human intervention.
Regulatory Proposals
In preparation for a possible new international labour standard related to labour rights and digital platforms, the ILO Governing Body initiated a tripartite consultation on the matter.
The outcomes of this consultation are presented in the report titled Realizing Decent Work in the Platform Economy — 113th International Labour Conference, 2025.
The first question in the questionnaire was:
“Should the International Labour Conference adopt one or more instruments on decent work in the platform economy?”
In response, 137 governments, 102 employers’ organizations, and all workers’ organizations (194) answered affirmatively, though with specific considerations regarding the type and scope of the international instrument to be adopted.
Based on the responses received, the ILO Office proposes that the standards take the form of a convention supplemented by a recommendation — a suggestion that will be considered at the ongoing Conference.
In this regard, it is worth highlighting the comment from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which underscores the importance of the ILO’s normative mandate in achieving its institutional objectives, including the principle that labour is not a commodity, and that the principles of the Philadelphia Declaration should guide the standard-setting process. The ITUC also highlights the importance of creating fair conditions to prevent a race to the bottom.
Despite the challenges that the debates on this issue will undoubtedly face — some of which are already evident in the responses sent to the ILO Office — the intent to develop, adopt, and monitor international labour instruments to regulate working conditions in the so-called “digital platforms” sector should be welcomed. This would help overcome the current regulatory gap at the global level.