Working Papers, vehicles for disseminating information on a range of topics related to the world of work and the evolution of social and labour policies and practices for a given sector, are regularly published and widely disseminated. Background reports and issues papers, which provide more in-depth analysis on specific issues, are also published for discussion at international tripartite meetings and global dialogue fora.

Publications

The Sectoral Policies Department is the ILO’s repository of knowledge on sector-specific labour and social issues. Research and studies conducted, in line with the ILO’s research policies, deal with emerging and priority issues of strong interest for ILO’s sectoral constituents.

2023

  1. Publication

    Statistical profile of the wholesale and retail trade sector

    01 September 2023

  2. Publication

    What labour force survey data can tell us about the workforce in the health and social care sector

    01 September 2023

    The present report describes the results of a special analysis of data from the Labour Force Surveys (LFS) of 56 countries which provided data about health and social care workers in sufficient detail to distinguish between different occupational groups within the workforce. The report covers analyses for 29 countries in Europe and 27 from other regions of the world.

  3. Publication

    Health sector investment impacts on employment and economic growth: A panel ARDL analysis in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

    01 September 2023

  4. Publication

    Teaching and the teaching profession in a digital world – Bosnia and Herzegovina

    29 August 2023

    The background paper analyzes the experiences, challenges and good practices of digital technology in teaching and education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to examine the problems and ways of guaranteeing equitable access to quality digital services.

  5. Publication

    The future of work in retail: Digitalization as an engine for sustainable economic recovery and decent work

    23 August 2023

    Report for the Technical meeting on digitalization in the retail sector as an engine for economic recovery and decent work (Geneva, 25-29 September 2023)

  6. Manual

    International labour migration in the health sector - A manual for participatory assessment of policy coherence

    27 July 2023

    The manual is based on existing ILO work and constitutes a step-by-step practical guide to support constituents and other stakeholders at country level in designing more effective health and labour migration policies.

  7. Circular Economy

    A circular economy that works for everyone: Ensuring a just and jobs-rich transition to a sustainable future for all

    11 July 2023

    On 1st June the ILO, Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) at the World Bank and Circle Economy held a joint event, A circular economy that works for everyone: Ensuring a just and jobs-rich transition to a sustainable future for all, at the World Circular Economy Forum in Helsinki. Participants explored how the decent work and circular economy agendas can be brought together to create a just transition that works for both people and planet. This event follows the recent launch of a new report, Decent Work in the Circular Economy: An overview of the existing evidence base, which represents the first output of the ‘Jobs in the Circular Economy’ initiative.

  8. Publication

    Occupational safety and health in the future of forestry work

    04 July 2023

  9. Publication

    Decent work challenges and opportunities in Malaysia’s rubber glove supply chain

    28 June 2023

    The report aims to strengthen the evidence base on the decent work challenges and opportunities across the four strategic objectives of the Decent Work Agenda: employment creation, rights at work, social protection and social dialogue.

  10. Ukraine

    ILO Brief: Violations of fundamental principles and rights at work at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and in Enerhodar city in Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation

    01 June 2023

    Ukrainian trade unions report that fundamental rights of Ukrainian workers in the areas temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation are frequently and repeatedly violated.