South-East Asia has become a key player in global supply chains (GSCs) during recent decades, and the region's participation in GSCs has had a profound impact on labour markets. This paper presents new 2000-2021 estimates of the number of GSC-related jobs in the region, with an estimated 75...

Lebanon is experiencing a structural transformation of its economy and labour market, but at the same time has been hit by a series of crises in recent years. In the face of rising unemployment, it is often argued that digital platforms can offer new employment and income-generating...

This paper analyses employment transitions and workers' skills in Brazil using a random sample from the universe of formal labour contracts covering the period from 2003 to 2018. We develop a novel procedure to derive a measure of occupational distance and internationally comparable skill...

There is little knowledge about the shape, prominence and drivers of work-to-work transitions in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines these elements in the context of South Africa and Indonesia - two middle-income countries with similar development levels yet different labour...

This paper traces the development of freelance platform work in the Russian Federation based on unique data from four online surveys conducted over the period 2009 and 2019 via the leading platform for creative and knowledge-based work and analyses the working conditions and well-being of the...

This paper documents the emergence and growth of digital labour markets in Eastern Europe. It shows that the development of two types of digital work – online work through online labour platforms and offline work mediated by mobile apps – have a different history, root causes and dynamics....

Digital labour platforms have been proliferating in China since 2005, making China one of the world’s largest platforms economies. This paper summarizes the results of an ILO survey, conducted in 2019, of workers’ characteristics and working conditions on three major digital labour...

This research report explores the nature and character of home-based work and the more narrow concept of homework in Ghana. As labour statistics on home-based work and homework are absent, the research draws on interviews with 124 individuals working in agro-processing, arts and crafts, industry...

This report focuses on two categories of homeworkers in the Philippines: industrial homeworkers, who assemble or fabricate goods for factories, retailers or their agents under subcontracting arrangements; and online workers, who render services to their clients or employers via...

Negotiations are a valuable and important tool for increasing the voice of workers in the informal economy. This paper provides empirical evidence from Africa, Asia and the Americas on negotiations and collective bargaining by workers in the informal economy. These practices demonstrate that...