The Global Crisis. Causes, responses and challenges

The onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 caused massive increases in unemployment, and pushed millions of workers into vulnerable employment or back into poverty. Nevertheless, the implementation of well-designed employment and social policies by a number of countries paved the way for a sustainable recovery. Such policies were central to putting a floor to the global financial crisis in those countries, and kick-starting a recovery. As a result, millions of jobs were either saved or created and the impact of the financial crisis on labour markets was far less critical.

This new report by the ILO shows how well-designed employment and social policies can now play a crucial role in both boosting job creation and making economic growth more solid and equitable.

The volume, which gathers research carried out by the ILO over the past two years, provides concrete examples of these policies from a large number of countries throughout the developed, emerging and developing world. It also shows that such a policy approach is consistent with fiscal stability and the goal of reducing public debt in the medium term.

While a job-centred strategy is both desirable and possible, implementing it requires careful tailoring to the needs of each country, for which social dialogue is essential. It also calls for coherence with macroeconomic policy settings, notably an efficient financial system.