Employment Policy

The Restated OECD Jobs Strategy put forward lines of action to create more and better jobs. And along these lines, the Employment Outlook , our annual flagship publication, analyses OECD labour market trends and monitors countries’ reforms.

In addition, a special attention is devoted to key issues such as: Labour Market Policies; Jobs for Youth; Sickness, disability and Work; Ageing and employment policies; and, through our Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), workers' skills and their upgrading.

For more on our activities, click on the About.

What's new

Employment: mental health issues rising in workplace, says OECD

12-Dec-2011

Mental illness is a growing problem in society and is increasingly affecting productivity and well-being in the workplace, according to the new OECD report Sick on the Job? Myths and Realities about Mental Health at Work. It says that one in five workers suffer from a mental illness, such as depression or anxiety, and many are struggling to cope.

Unfinished business: Investing in youth employment

17-Nov-2011

The economic outlook has weakened significantly over the past six months, which is not good news for employment or the prospects of those looking for work. But action targeted on youth and the long-term unemployed can, and must, be taken.  An article by John P. Martin, Director, OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.

Employment, Migration and Social Policy Newsletter October-November

28-Sep-2011

Read the new issue of the Employment, Migration and Social Policy Newsletter; all the country notes of our recent publications and the G20 Labour Ministerial, news on ongoing and upcoming projects, calendar of meetings and more .

G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial, 26-27 September

26-Sep-2011

G20 Labour and Employment ministers will meet in Paris on 26 and 27 September to discuss how to boost job creation and tackle unemployment rates that remain stubbornly high, especially in OECD countries.

Employment, Migration and Social Policy Newsletter

13-Jul-2011

The Employment, Migration and Social Policy Newsletter will be published quarterly and focus on new and ongoing projects, recent publications and upcoming events. It will be updated regularly and is accessible on line.

World Bank interview with Stefano Scarpetta, ABCDE 2011

27-May-2011

In this interview for the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics, Stefano Scarpetta talks about what can be done to spur job creation and drive structural change.

Signature of Memorandum of Understanding between the OECD and the ILO

26-May-2011

By signing the Memorandum, OECD and ILO commit to deliver a multidimensional and coherent policy advice, to promote the cross-pollination of our assessments, ideas and solutions to ensure better jobs for better lives.

Japan should enrol non-regulars in social insurances, ease access to welfare, extend activation measures, says OECD

21-Dec-2010

Japan has high employment rates for men and older workers and relatively low unemployment. Benefit entitlements for the unemployed are limited, but other labour market policies, including efficient placement services, help to prevent unemployment and tackle labour market and social problems arising from it. Japan should push the implementation of several current reforms, which include expanding social insurance coverage among non-regular workers, easing access to social welfare and encouraging firms to bridge the gap between their age of retirement and the earliest access to a public pension.

Invest in youth to tackle jobs crisis, says OECD

15-Dec-2010

The global economy is recovering but youth unemployment is getting worse, according to a new OECD  report. Off to a Good Start? Jobs for Youth  says that young people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as the average worker. Yet few governments are taking proactive steps to boost youth employment.

Switzerland should improve co-ordination of support for long term unemployed, says OECD

22-Oct-2010

Switzerland has a highly effective labour market policy which combines a relatively generous benefit system and comparatively high expenditures on active market programmes with strong incentives to move into jobs. Given the low overall unemployment, however, the proportion of long term unemployed in labour force surveys is surprisingly high.

High Level Forum on Jobs for Youth, Oslo Norway 20-21 september 2010

from 20-Sep-2010 to 21-Sep-2010

A High Level Policy Forum on Jobs for Youth: Addressing Policy Challenges in OECD Countries, jointly organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and the OECD, discussed what decisive actions governments should take to improve job prospects for young people.

Employment : Governments must tackle rising youth unemployment urgently

16-Apr-2010

Youth unemployment is set to keep rising in the months ahead. With G20 labour ministers meeting in Washington to discuss the jobs crisis, the OECD says more needs to be done to help young people find work and avoid falling into a “lost generation”.

US should increase spending to help young people amid rising unemployment, says OECD

07-Dec-2009

The US should raise significantly federal funding on jobs programmes for young people in order to limit the impact of the economic downturn on the current generation of school leavers, according to a new OECD report. Given the pressure on public finances, this may require some reallocation of federal funding towards youth programmes.

Governments must act decisively on jobs, says OECD’s Gurría

16-Sep-2009

Governments must act fast and decisively to prevent the recession turning into a long-term unemployment crisis, according to OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “Employment is the bottom line of the current crisis. It is essential that governments focus on helping jobseekers in the months to come,” he said at the launch of the OECD’s Employment Outlook 2009.

France should prioritise the employment of disadvantaged young people

20-May-2009

France should do more to ease the transition of unskilled young people into employment. The government should give priority to helping young people the furthest removed from the job market and to strengthening the social protection of the most disadvantaged, according to a new report by the OECD.

Governments must do more to help most vulnerable amid rising unemployment, urges OECD

15-May-2009

Governments must urgently adapt their labour market policies to help their most vulnerable citizens in the economic crisis, as was concluded at the High-Level Forum on Sickness, Disability and Work in May 2009. Key to this will be avoiding that the crisis further strengthens a disability benefit culture that pushes many people with disability onto benefit schemes and out of work for the rest of their lives.

Australia should intervene quickly to avert a major rise in youth unemployment, says OECD

20-Apr-2009

Young people are likely to be hit hard by rising unemployment as the global downturn continues. In Australia, where more young people work than in most OECD countries, the government should encourage more teenagers to stay in school past the age of 16 in order to boost their skills and improve their long-term career prospects.

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