G7 Labour and Employment Ministers' Declaration
Turin, Italy, September 30, 2017
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We, the G7 Ministers of Labour and Employment, met in Turin on 29 and 30 September to further enhance our co-operation in addressing changes in the world of work, promoting sound and effective policies to boost the quality and quantity of jobs and fostering inclusive labour markets and societies.
Our discussion builds upon the "G7 People Centred Action Plan on Innovation, Skills and Labour" and the "G7 Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Economic Environment" adopted by our Leaders in Taormina. In addition, our discussion was informed by the Bari Policy Agenda to foster inclusive growth agreed to by the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.
Our labour markets are undergoing major transformations driven by globalisation, automation, digitalisation, demographic changes and international migration. We recognize the importance of adopting policies that promote dynamic and resilient labour markets. Being conscious that many of our citizens are concerned about the impact of these transformations on their income and job security as well as their employment opportunities, we agree to take an inclusive labour market approach, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable in our societies, to ensure that no one is left behind. In doing so, we will act in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We are committed to continue adapting our labour markets, social policies and institutions to address these new challenges but also harness the opportunities inherent in these global trends to ensure that the benefits of sustainable and innovation-driven growth are shared widely.
We also recognise the need to address emerging inequalities associated with changing labour markets. We will share and exchange our experiences and best practices in employment, labour and social policies to develop comprehensive and effective solutions, as appropriate, for an inclusive future of work.
We will devote specific attention to promoting and sharing the benefits of innovation among groups who are particularly exposed to potential job and wage losses or face barriers in accessing new job opportunities, including the low skilled, older workers and people with disabilities, as well as those who are underrepresented in the labour market, such as women and young people.
Given the widely shared concern over high youth unemployment in some of our countries, we will strengthen our efforts to provide young people with the appropriate skills and to implement effective policies to support the transition from school to work.
We agree that increasing longevity and improved health of our populations offer opportunities to extend and enhance employability over the course of working lives. We will provide our workforce with adequate support to adapt and expand professional skills and measures to improve occupational health and safety at work.
In accordance with the main pillars of the G7 Action Plan adopted by the Leaders in Taormina, and complementing the discussions by fellow G7 Ministers for Industry, ICT and Science, we commit, according to national circumstances, to:
Promote skills for the jobs of the future and foster labour rights to enable all workers to strengthen their employability by:
Identifying labour market needs and enabling solutions to anticipate and respond to changing skills needs.
Investing in and expanding access to education and training for people of all ages to acquire, adapt and develop skills required for the jobs of the future over the course of their working lives, and supporting actors that promote actions in this regard.
Exploring the possibility of individual accounts and other systems to provide for the portability of access to qualification and up-skilling programs.
Focussing on quality apprenticeships as a pathway to professional life, including by promoting increased cooperation with social partners. We will prioritise assisting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to remain in education and to enter apprenticeships.
As forms of work change, promoting a favourable legal and regulatory framework to protect the freedom of association and workers' voice.
Reaffirm the crucial role played by labour, employment policies and social protection policies by:
Providing high standards of access to, and coverage by, social protection and social security, to support workers in non-standard and new forms of work, including those engaged in platform-based activities.
Using active labour market policies to foster a quick (re)integration into employment of job seekers, particularly those who face barriers.
Adapting, as required, labour market institutions to the changing work environment, by fostering improvements in working conditions, skills development, employment relationships and collective bargaining while at the same time encouraging employers to seize the opportunities offered by innovation.
Developing policies to foster greater participation in the labour market and enabling and incentivizing both men and women to balance work and family life, including by strengthening care services and promoting family-friendly policies such as for maternal, paternal and parental leave, childcare and long- term care, social infrastructure and flexible working arrangements.
Foster a multi-stakeholder approach by:
Promoting inclusivity in innovation and the future of work through close cooperation and dialogue among policy-makers, social partners, the private sector, education and training providers, innovation analysts and other relevant actors.
Encouraging business and employee-driven innovation to increase labour productivity, innovation capability, market resilience and overall business competitiveness. As forms of work change and boundaries of work become increasingly blurred, innovative and experimental approaches at company level are required, such as new working time and workplace arrangements tailored to both employers' and workers' needs.
Encouraging social partners to design and implement targeted evidence-based solutions for the future of work, through meaningful engagement with relevant actors including governments, stakeholders and businesses, among others.
To secure strong continuity in our policy discussions, the dissemination of good practices and the achievement of better co-ordinated national solutions, we have agreed to launch the "G7 Future of Work Forum", a platform to share our strategies, exchange good practices and experiences. The Forum will be set up and managed by the OECD in cooperation with the ILO. It will involve policy makers, social partners, innovation analysts and other relevant actors.
We call on stakeholders to contribute to the Forum, focussing on a) exchanging and developing data and information about how the labour market is changing, with the aim of strengthening skills needs anticipation tools; and b) sharing experiences and ideas about emerging forms of work and their implications for workers and employers.
We welcome the discussion that took place between the Heads of our national Active Labour Market Policies bodies, who met in parallel to our meeting. This discussion will facilitate sharing best practices in this field.
We take note of the voices heard from the world of cooperatives at the G7 of Cooperatives that took place in Milan.
We thank the International Organizations, in particular the OECD and the ILO, for their important support and background studies, and we welcome their initiatives on the Future of Work. We also thank the 2017 G20 German Presidency for making the future of work one of its priorities and encourage upcoming G7 and G20 Presidencies to build on the existing initiatives on this issue.
