In the prevailing context of multiple crises and ongoing change, analysing how shocks impact the society, understanding the underlying structural dynamics, and ensuring that short-term shocks do not turn into long-term deprivation become essential for designing policy actions towards productive and decent work for all.

Employment diagnostics are commonly used as a first step when designing employment policies towards full and productive employment for all. Owing to multiple sequential and overlapping shocks to the world economy in recent years, updating the analytical base on which policy decisions are taken has increased in importance.

The aim of these guidelines is to support ILO constituents and staff to identify the underlying causes and context-specific constraints and opportunities for achieving full and productive employment for all. This guidance builds on previous work, while updating it according to the changing needs for policy-relevant information.

This publication provides:
i. Guidance for analysing current trends and key sources of data; ii. A discussion on selected long-term trends in the world of work; iii. An overview of alternative types of data for trends and recovery monitoring; and iv. A description of the process for in-country engage