The Internationalisation of Employment: A Challenge to Fair Globalisation?

By Peter Auer

Calls for the goal of decent work and other employment objectives to be addressed as integral parts of international economic policies have become louder.

Auer reports on a joint ILO/France symposium, which was concerned with the internationalisation of employment. The participants sought to determine whether and how far fears fuelled by globalization are justified. Globalisation today is characterized by the internationalization of employment along value chains, with the concomitant relocation of production and jobs, restructurings, and winners and losers. According to the participants, what was required was a permanent "adjustment management system" to minimize the negative effects for workers. The author sets out several conditions that must be met to create such a system.

(International Labour Review; vol. 145, no 1-2, 2006)