Many countries around the world are facing persistent employment challenges, including unemployment, underemployment and informality, while a range of inequalities remain key features of labour markets. Certain groups, including women, young people and the less skilled, are experiencing specific barriers to accessing decent and productive employment. Meanwhile, the world of work continues to be transformed by technological innovations, demographic shifts, and globalization, as well as climate change. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic provoked a severe economic and labour market downturn, which further exacerbated existing challenges. The recovery since 2022 has been uneven with advanced economies experiencing tight labour markets, while developing countries continue to face employment deficits.

With slowing global growth, the process of recovery in 2023 has been hindered by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, which has hurt jobs and livelihoods in the poorest countries. Based on the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), ILO's approach provides a well-tested and robust comprehensive policy framework addressing the threefold challenges of employment creation, work quality and access to jobs through leveraging macro, sectoral and labour market policies that have an influence on employment outcomes. As such, it involves actors beyond ministries in charge of employment and social partners to formulate concerted actions and consensus building through social dialogue.

While an increasing number of countries have now adopted such policies, the key challenge is implementation due to insufficient operationalization. Given that employment is a cross-cutting concern, requiring a "whole-of-government" approach, implementation of employment policies poses various challenges in terms of coordination, accountability and financing/budgeting. In contexts of heightened uncertainty and constrained fiscal space, policymakers need to adapt their employment policy approach to follow more agile processes that allow for faster adjustment and more regular monitoring.

To strengthen the role and implementation of effective national employment policies, the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme of the ITCILO and the Employment Policy Department of the ILO are joining forces to organize an online training course. This new course is dedicated to translating policy commitments into concrete results, based on innovative tools and methodologies developed by the ILO over recent years, including the new Employment Policy Action Facility (EPAF) platform.