Working papers

  1. ILO Working paper 96

    Generative AI and Jobs: A global analysis of potential effects on job quantity and quality

    21 August 2023

    This study assesses the potential global exposure of occupations to Generative AI, particularly GPT-4. It predicts that the overwhelming effect of the technology will be to augment occupations, rather than to automate them. The greatest impact is likely to be in high and upper-middle income countries due to a higher share of employment in clerical occupations. As clerical jobs are an important source of female employment, the effects are highly gendered. Insights from this study underline the need for proactive policies that focus on job quality, ensure fair transitions, and that are based on dialogue and adequate regulation.

  2. ILO Working paper 95

    Artificial intelligence in human resource management: a challenge for the human-centred agenda?

    25 July 2023

    This paper offers guidance as to when and where the use of AI in HRM should be encouraged, and where it is likely to cause more problems than it solves.

  3. ILO Working paper 94

    Who creates jobs with broad skillsets? The crucial role of firms

    26 June 2023

    Using matched firm-level and online job vacancy data from India, this study finds significant heterogeneity in skill requirements across firms within the same occupations. It also shows that more competitive and innovative firms require digital skills and specific combinations of digital and other skills. The study highlights that firms are not passive recipients of new technologies, but rather play a crucial role in defining the changing nature of work.

  4. ILO Working paper 93

    Digital transformation of social security administration and services: A comparative analysis of Australia, Canada, Denmark and France

    19 June 2023

  5. ILO Working paper 92

    Occupational Safety and Health, Frontline Workers, and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S.

    07 June 2023

    The Report provides an overview of U.S. occupational safety and health and related laws providing protection to workers in the US; traces the effects of the pandemic on workers in the U.S. and reviews the federal agencies’ and states’ responses to the risk of COVID-19 within workplaces.

  6. ILO Working paper 91

    Jobs and global supply chains in South-East Asia

    07 June 2023

    South-East Asia has become a key player in global supply chains (GSCs) during recent decades, and the region’s participation in GSCs has had a profound impact on labour markets. The region has become increasingly dependent on GSCs for employment despite some short periods of sharp volatility and setbacks, including in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  7. ILO Working paper 90

    OSH and the COVID-19 pandemic: A legal analysis

    15 March 2023

    This study provides an analysis of how occupational safety and health (OSH) regulation responded to the circumstances of key workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  8. ILO Working paper 89

    What has been driving work-to-work transitions in the emerging world? – A comparative study of Indonesia and South Africa

    23 March 2023

    This paper examines the shape, prominence and drivers of work-to-work transitions in South Africa and Indonesia – two middle-income countries with similar development levels yet different labour market characteristics.

  9. ILO Working paper 88

    The impact of Covid-19 on South African migrant wage workers and the self-employed

    28 February 2023

    When Covid-19 struck the South African government declared some of the strictest lockdowns worldwide. The impact of lockdowns on the working classes was especially severe. Initially many workers were left with no income, leading to warnings that a pandemic of hunger may eclipse the deadliness of the Covid-19 pandemic.

  10. ILO Working paper 87

    Effects of digitalization on the human centricity of social security administration and services

    06 February 2023