Europe

Thorben Albrecht appointed to the Global Commission on the Future of Work

The International Labour Organization (ILO) appointed a new advisory body, the Global Commission on the Future of Work, in Geneva today. Thorben Albrecht, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, has been appointed to the Commission. Apart from the Swedish Prime Minister, he is the only European government representative and one of twenty "eminent individuals with outstanding personal achievements and vision, participating in their individual capacity", who, within the framework of the ILO's centenary initiative, will deal with questions raised by the increasingly rapid changes in world of work and the resulting necessity to shape those changes.

The international committee of experts is chaired by Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius, and Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, who announced the names of the members of the Commission today in Geneva.

Albrecht:

Shaping the future of work - especially against the background of its increasing globalisation and transformation by digital technologies - is already a central issue in Germany. My appointment is also an expression of the international recognition for the dialogue initiated by Federal Labour Ministry on the subject of "Work 4.0". I am looking forward to working on the ILO's Global Commission on the Future of Work and to an exchange of ideas with the high-level international experts, to which we will be able to contribute our findings from the previous dialogue on "Work 4.0" and the recently initiated room for experimentation.

In the time remaining before the 2019 International Labour Conference, which will celebrate the ILO's 100th anniversary, the Commission will draw up a report to show how the future of work can be shaped to be sustainable and decent.