Ergonweb

New efforts by HP to limit use of temporary student workers

ILO's report on Global Employment Trends 2013.

Online guidance covering risk assessment, monitoring and remediation

Ergon's assessment of key emerging issues for 2013

ILO's concept note on post-MDG priorities

"Women face higher unemployment rates than men globally, with no improvements likely in the coming years, according to an ILO report. The ILO's Global Employment Trends for Women 2012 looks at the gender gap in unemployment, employment, labour force participation, vulnerability, and segregation in jobs and economic sectors. Globally, the gap in unemployment and employment-to-population ratios was moving towards convergence before the crisis. The crisis reversed this trend in the hardest-hit regions. In the advanced countries, the crisis seems to have affected men in trade- dependent sectors more than women in health and education. In developing countries, women were strongly hit in trade-related sectors."

Interesting article about the Chinese bus driver strike in Singapore, set in the broader labour market / economic context.

Improvement in labor market conditions has been the main explanation behind many of the poverty success stories observed in the last decade-that is the primary conclusion of an analysis of changes in poverty by income source. Changes in labor earnings were the largest contributor to poverty reduction for a sample of 16 countries where poverty increased substantially. In 10 of these countries, labor income explained more than half of the change in poverty, and in another 4 countries, it accounted for more than 40 percent of the reduction in poverty. A declining dependency rate accounts for over a fifth of the reduction in poverty in 10 out of 16 countries, while transfers and other nonearned incomes account for more than a quarter of the reduction in poverty in 9 of these countries. A further decomposition of the contribution of labor income to poverty reduction in Bangladesh, Peru, and Thailand found that changes in individual characteristics (education, work experience, and region of residence) were important, but that overall, increases in real earnings among the poor matter the most.

Recent blog by Naila Kabeer for Guardian

Despite growth estimates going down for China (now at 7.4% in Q3/2012), the labour market is still tight and wages are still rising. Growth figures below 8% were previously considered cause for concern, but this article suggests that demographic trends (i.e. impact of the one child policy) are lessening the pressure on the government for job creation. There simply are not as many workers joining the workforce.While the latest slowdown has led to some temporary job cuts, these have not been near the figures reached in 2008-9. All of these factors suggest that further large-scale stimulus measures in China are unlikely.

Stuart Bell considers how ethical trade has changed as reflected in ETI member annual reports