Issue brief: Job quality in the platform economy
English
ILO
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Anticipating and matching skills needs
Anticipating and building skills for the future is essential to a rapidly changing labour market. This applies to changes in the types and levels of skills needed as well as in occupational and technical areas. Effective methods to anticipate future skills needs and avoid potential mismatches include: sustained dialogue between employers and trainers, coordination across government institutions, labour market information systems, employment services and performance reviews of training institutions.
Policy and strategy
Recommendations and advice on resolving policy challenges related to skills development systems and their linkages to the world of work. Concise syntheses of experience from the international organizations.
While employment through digital labour platforms remains small – estimates range from 0.5 per cent of the labour force in the United States to 5 per cent in Europe – it is expected that digital employment will expand in the future, as more jobs, or tasks, move from the offline to the online economy. In addition, some developing country governments, including Malaysia and Nigeria, have already adopted strategies to encourage their workers to engage in digital labour. Yet little is known about the quality of jobs being generated in the platform economy.
This Issue Brief summarizes some of the existing empirical literature on job quality in the platform economy, particularly crowdworking platforms, drawing upon ILO surveys of crowdworkers and the existing literature.