Employment, as the primary input to GDP and the core source of income for households, is a wide subject. OECD's employment analysis looks at how unemployment and employment vary by region, gender, employment status (part-time and self-employed), and according to working conditions such as earnings. Work on unemployment examines active labour market programmes and the public employment service.

Employment is also linked with a range of social issues. Separate OECD programmes examine employment and social policies in non-member countries, employment and social safety nets in developing countries, employment, entrepreneurship and social innovation at the local level and work organisation and human resource management within the public sector

Within general economics, aggregate employment and wage trends are inputs to and outputs from macroeconomic forecasts. The implementation of the OECD Jobs Strategy through structural measures in a number of fields is examined in the labour market chapters of country economy studies. Education, in its role as a determinant of the productive value of labour, is closely linked to employment.

OECD programmes examine initial education, higher education, lifelong learning, the transition from education to work, and literacy and numeracy assessment and education indicators.Linkages between the economies and labour forces of different countries are examined in OECD's programmes on international migration and trade and labour standards