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DAVOS
Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated more jobs than the “redundant tasks” it has replaced, according to Gilbert F. Houngbo, director-general of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Speaking to Anadolu during the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Houngbo underlined the importance of managing AI’s impact on the workforce.
“The worry for ILO is not too much of the job loss side, but it’s already by the augmentation side, because Al is there to help us amplify what we have been doing and with better effectiveness, with better productivity,” he said, adding: “But the point right now … is the education, the skills, and the rescaling, and the upscaling to make sure that we all are fit to be able to operate in the Al environment.”
“It’s going to be important for us to ensure, as we progress in Al, that it remains human centered,” he added.
Houngbo also stressed the significance of young people pursuing STEM fields while developing vocational and “soft skills,” areas where AI has yet to dominate.
“Those are the skills that the youngsters have to develop and then we also have to upgrade on that. So the trend is rather positive, so that there is a matching between the skills where we are trying to upgrade ourselves and what the labor market is looking for,” he said.
Major gap between women, men employment
Houngbo noted that global unemployment rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels, hovering at about 5%, and are expected to remain stable this year.
Despite progress in youth employment worldwide, he expressed concern about the persistent gender gap in the labor market.
He also pointed out that around 2 billion people globally work in the informal sector, which operates largely outside regulatory oversight, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This sector constitutes 60% of the global workforce.
According to ILO estimates, 183 million people worldwide are actively seeking jobs but cannot find one, 137 million want jobs but are not actively searching, and 83 million have completely stopped looking for work.
He emphasized the need for governments to align economic policies with employment strategies to address these challenges.
On the topic of hybrid and remote work, Houngbo said global standards are yet to emerge, as individual companies continue to develop their own approaches.
He highlighted the hybrid model as a key factor in improving work-life balance, especially for younger workers.
“Particularly the youngsters are not looking for a job just for the salary, they’re also looking for a job that is meaningful, so it’s a set of different considerations that I believe we need to take into account, and sometime, the right decision could be back to full time jobs, sometime it could be 1/3 or half or a different, hybrid consideration,” he said.
“I think the coming years will help us draw lessons from the experience as we go,” he added.
Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul