Global Conference on Measuring New Forms of Employment Hosted by ILO and EUROSTAT

The International Labour Organization (ILO) emphasized the necessity for improved and authoritative data to monitor the evolving world of work during a conference co-hosted with the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat). The event focused on developing reliable statistics to measure and comprehend new employment forms, establishing a unified direction for the future.

BRUSSELS (ILO News) – At a global conference organized by Eurostat and the ILO, the importance of comprehensive and meaningful statistics to address the changing realities of work was highlighted. The shifts driven by digital, environmental, and demographic changes are causing rapid and unpredictable transformations in the nature and organization of work, while traditional employment relationships are rapidly deteriorating.

"Given these circumstances, having comprehensive, meaningful, and reliable statistics is crucial," stated Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue. "These statistics allow us to better grasp the evolving work realities and monitor changes over time, enabling more informed policy actions. High-quality data is essential to enhancing working conditions and workers' well-being, thereby improving labor rights."

Since 2013, new statistical standards have been adopted to foster a better understanding of paid and unpaid work, working relationships, and the informal economy. One such standard addresses work, employment, and labor underutilization statistics, acknowledging unpaid care work as work.

"This standard was groundbreaking and has supported policies promoting a more equitable distribution of unpaid care work within and among families and the state, such as through increased public investment in childcare and elderly care," said Ms. Tomei.

She also emphasized the strong alignment between the new statistical standard on informality and ILO Recommendation No. 204, which guides the transition from the informal to the formal economy. Both standards share the same definition of informality and cover informal jobs, work activities, economic units, and the contribution of informal activities to GDP.

However, significant data gaps remain, as current data is insufficient to accurately track the changing work landscape. "There is a lack of authoritative data to inform discussions on the impact of artificial intelligence and algorithmic management, for instance. To fully realize their potential benefits, we must understand their implications for workers. High-quality data is critical for the quality of these debates," added Ms. Tomei.

Additionally, data is not always well integrated into policymaking, sometimes due to unclear measurement objectives.

"I hope that by the end of this conference, we will have a clearer path not only to improve data availability on ongoing labor market transformations but also to better connect data with policymaking for more informed decisions that support fair, inclusive, and sustainable employment practices and decent work for all," Ms. Tomei concluded.

Article source: https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/ilo-and-eurostat-host-global-conference-measuring-new-forms-employment-0

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