ILO's Network on Future of Work

Psychology and the International Labor Organization: The Role of Psychology in the Decent Work Agenda

The ILO has a century-long tradition of working on the psychology of work and is now faced with new and growing challenges as the world work is undergoing far-reaching changes. This short note discusses how ILO can benefit from recent psychosocial studies.

Authors: David Blustein, Jonas Masdonati, Jérôme Rossier

The initial development of both the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and the psychological study of working can be traced to a period nearly a century ago when the labor market was in the throes of major changes.

Now that many regions of the world are once again facing dramatic and far-reaching transformations in the world of work, the authors believe that it is important to connect the ILO and the psychological study of work and careers to maximize efforts to enhance the quality, availability, and security of work for all citizens across the globe. In this brief paper, the authors discuss some of the ways that psychology can inform the ILO mission.