The Future of Work Podcast

Global youth unemployment is rising and AI is reshaping entry-level roles. In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, we analyze the 2026 trends with Sara Elder, the lead author of the 2026 ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth report. Joined by youth Scout leaders from Romania, Mexico, and Zimbabwe, we explore why this is a structural crisis and what institutions must do to support the next generation.

Economic growth and rising productivity don’t automatically translate into better jobs and higher incomes. ILO Chief Economist Sangheon Lee explains why many workers are not seeing the benefits and what can be done to share the gains from growth more widely.

How can Africa turn skills into real opportunities for decent work? Albert Rukeisa of the Association of Tanzania Employers and Priyadarshini Gupta of the Mauritius Trade Union Congress discuss the challenges on the ILO’s Future of Work podcast.

In this episode of the ILO’s Future of Work podcast, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and Casper Edmonds, an ILO expert on the circular economy and the world of work, explore what living and working in space can teach us about using finite resources on Earth. They discuss the opportunities and challenges of the circular economy, the millions of people already working in it, and how the transition can create decent work for all.

Patrick Belser, Chief of the ILO's Inclusive Labour Markets, Wages and Working Conditions Branch, explains how Convention No. 193 aims to promote decent work in the platform economy and what it means for digital platform workers, digital labour platforms and governments.

As the world falls short of its 2025 target to end child labour, this podcast explores what comes next. Representatives of workers, employers and the ILO discuss how to keep child labour high on the global agenda beyond 2030 and what a new global target should look like.

Podcast guests:
Federico Blanco, ILO Head of the Research and Evaluation Unit in the FUNDAMENTALS department
Cyrene Martinsson Waern, Workers' delegate, Sweden
Jacqueline Mugo, President, International Organisation of Employers (IOE)

With uneven growth and slowing productivity in many regions, can growth still be inclusive, sustainable and create decent jobs? This discussion looks at how responsible business practices shape firms, treatment of workers and the wider economy.

Podcast guests:
Mark Birrell, President, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)
Abdul-Moomin Gbana, General Secretary, Ghana Mine Workers Union
Githa Roelans, Head of the Multinational Enterprises and Responsible Business Conduct Unit, ILO

The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is considered a model of strong and effective cooperation between seafarers and the global shipping industry, and its implementation is all the more crucial as the high seas continue to face unprecedented pressures and crises.

Podcast guests:
Max Johns, Former Shipowner, Vice-Chair of the Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC, Professor Maritime at HSBA, Hamburg
Carlos Muller, Secretary General of CONTTMAF National Confederation of Workers, Brazil and Chair of the ITF Sustainable Transport Committee
Jainal T. Rasul, Undersecretary, Department of Migrant Workers, Philippines
Beatriz Vacotto, Head of the Maritime Unit, International Labour Organization

The Occupational Safety and Health Convention, or Convention 187, was adopted two decades ago. It is still highly relevant today, as the world of work faces new and re-emerging psychosocial and health risks linked to climate change, technological changes, pandemics and other challenges.

Podcast guests:
Anousheh Karvar, French Government Representative to the ILO and to the G7-G20 Labour & Employment and Chair of the ILO Governing Body
Kristiaan de Meester, Belgian employers' group representative
Joaquim Nunes Pintado, ILO Branch Chief Occupational Safety and Health
Catelene Passchier, Chairperson of the Workers' group, ILO

In 1976, Convention No. 144 established a simple but powerful principle: governments, employers and workers should shape labour policy together. To mark the Convention's 50th anniversary, representatives of governments, employers and workers, alongside the European Union, reflect on what social dialogue has achieved and whether it can continue to help shape the future of work.

Podcast guests:
Michele Cervone D'Urso, EU Ambassador & Deputy Head of Delegation to the UN in Geneva
Omar Faruk Osman, General Secretary of the Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU)
Emma Hippolyte, Minister of Equity, Labour, Gender and Elderly Affairs of Saint Lucia
Ulan Tazhibayev, Advisor to The Chairman of the Presidium of the National Confederation of Employers of Kazakhstan “PARYZ"

In a world shaped by AI, the green transition, and demographic change, lifelong learning is key to supporting good jobs and more inclusive societies. But new ILO research shows access to quality learning is still deeply unequal.

Podcast guests:
Pedro Moreno da Fonseca, Lifelong learning specialist at the ILO.
Hannah Liepmann, Economist at the ILO.
Chaudhry Saad Muhammad, General Secretary of the Pakistan United Workers Federation.
Josephine Andriamamonjiarison, Honorary President of the Employers’ Association of Madagascar and member of the ILO Governing Body

Artificial intelligence is already reshaping work – from jobs to skills to everyday working life. But will it strengthen decent work, dignity and shared prosperity – or deepen inequality and exclusion?

Guests:
Kostas Papadakis, Senior adviser, Labour Governance and Sectoral Policies Department, ILO
Janine Berg, Senior economist in the Research Department, ILO
Hannah Liepmann, Economist in the Research Department, ILO.
Valerio De Stefano, Professor of Law and Canada Research Chair in Innovation, Law and Society at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto

ILO workers' activities specialist Rafael Peels joins the Future of Work podcast to explore strategic foresight - a methodology for navigating disruption. Learn how workers' and employers' organizations can prepare for an uncertain future.

In this episode of the ILO Future of Work podcast, Manal Azzi explains how psychosocial risks such as long working hours, job insecurity and workplace bullying affect workers’ health, and what can be done to create healthier working environments worldwide.

As Thailand’s automotive industry shifts to electric vehicles and automation, how can companies stay competitive while protecting workers? Georg Leutert of IndustriALL Global Union and Sathirayuth (Max) Sangsuwan of AutoAlliance Thailand discuss how dialogue, trust and responsible business conduct are helping shape the sector’s future.

In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, Anam Butt, technical specialist on gender equality and non-discrimination at the International Labour Organization, discusses a new ILO report on the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the world of work. She explains why women are more exposed than men to the risks associated with this technology, and what this means for equality in the labour market.

In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, we unpack the ILO’s new Employment and Social Trends 2026 report with its lead author, Stefan Kühn, and ILO trade expert Marva Corley. Together, they explore why labour markets look stable yet remain fragile – and what this means for job quality, inequality, and the future of work.

This episode of the ILO Future of Work’s special series on the Second World Summit for Social Development examines the implications of the Summit’s renewed commitment to eradicating poverty, promoting decent work, and social inclusion, on the world work, with guests Juan Somavia, Sabina Alkire and Manuela Tomei.

In this episode of the Future of Work podcast, the ILO's Claire Courteille-Mulder explains why the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha matters, and what’s at stake for social development, multilateralism, and the ILO’s mission to advance social justice.

Ahead of the World Summit for Social Development, the ILO is launching a special podcast series. In this first episode, Sabina Alkire of Oxford University and ILO’s Manuela Tomei discuss progress and gaps since the 1995 commitment to advance social development for all.