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International Labour Organization

International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization is responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. It is the only ‘tripartite’ United Nations agency bringing together representatives of governments, employers and workers to shape policies and programmes.
A university graduate promotes products via livestreaming in Milin, in western China’s Tibet autonomous region, on September 14. Photo: Xinhua
China jobs

Record graduate influx pushes China’s youth unemployment rate to 18.9%

Anxieties over AI’s growing threat to entry-level roles add to existing concerns about economic doldrums caused by weak domestic demand.

Asean

Southeast Asia’s extreme heat exposes holes in safety net for outdoor workers

Thailand

How Cambodian worker exodus exposes Thailand’s fragile labour model

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Asean

AI threatens nearly a quarter of Southeast Asia’s workforce but not all is lost

Being most exposed to AI does not mean that jobs would be replaced – just that some could move up the value chain or evolve, analysts say.

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A man looks at a screen depicting a person made out of pixels. AI is affecting some jobs in Southeast Asia. Photo: dpa
Middle East

Outside In | How Trump’s war on Iran is jeopardising Asia’s remittance lifeline

In Gulf economies, lost migrant jobs and remittances risk plunging millions across Asia into crisis.

China jobs

AI ‘collusion’ could force wages down, warns ILO economist

Young people’s unemployment woes ‘mostly related to the current economic slowdown, more than to specific AI’, says Ekkehard Ernst.

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North Korea

How North Korea makes US$500 million yearly – at its own people’s expense

The report details the ‘brutal’ conditions North Korean workers endure in Russia that reveal a pattern of ‘control, coercion and abuse’.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un greets people during a visit to a coal mine run by young workers on March 15. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
Trade

Outside In | Try as it might, the US alone can’t reverse the tide of globalisation

Accounting for a significant share of world trade, Europe and Asia are far more decisive players in the fast-changing globalised economy.

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Indonesia

The bitter choice for Indonesian sailors abandoned off Africa

The crew must decide: return home to their families empty-handed or stay on their ship to hopefully get months of unpaid wages.

Malaysia

Malaysia plans new insurance scheme for Singapore cross-border workers

The scheme will cover the nearly 400,000 Malaysian commuters who cross the causeway daily for work, minister says.

A traffic police officer guides a motorcyclist as vehicles queue to enter the Woodlands Checkpoint in Singapore. Photo: AFP
Donald Trump

Trump pulls US out of dozens of international organisations, UN agencies

Many are groups and treaties the US president’s team has categorised as catering to diversity and ‘woke’ initiatives, such as climate talks.

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US President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives to address House Republicans at their annual issues conference retreat at the Kennedy Centre on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
Sustainability

Opinion | Why Shein doesn’t have to be the model for the fashion industry

Although the fast fashion label had a bumper 2025 while familiar brands faced collapse, the industry should not conclude that speed and scale are everything.

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Human rights

Ageing Asia needs domestic helpers, but can it keep them safe?

While the region cries out for care, top source nations the Philippines and Indonesia have tightened controls to curb exploitation and abuse.

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India

In India, tycoon’s call to adopt ‘996’ work culture in China spurs debate

India’s parliament is debating a new law to allow staff the ‘right to disconnect’ from workplace communications after their official hours.

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Commuters walk at a railway station in Mumbai. Workers in India are among the most overworked globally, according to data from the International Labour Organization. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

Malaysia promises millions of gig workers a safety net, but critics see holes

A new law would mandate written contracts and dispute resolution, but labour groups argue it still leaves workers at the mercy of algorithms.

A delivery rider for Grab passes in front of a house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AFP
South Korea

‘Workplaces of death’: South Korean president’s childhood fuels crackdown

Lee Jae-myung, who crushed his finger and arm working as a child, has vowed to lower the country’s industrial accident rate.

Pakistan

‘Modern slavery’: child labour still common in Pakistan

One in four households in the country employs a child as a domestic worker, mostly girls aged 10 to 14.

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Indonesia

Indonesian fishermen sue Bumble Bee Seafoods in landmark forced labour case

The human-trafficking case highlights the exploitation within the seafood industry, emphasising the need for corporate accountability and systemic reform.

Workers load flash-frozen fish onto a truck from a boat near Indonesia’s Bali island. Indonesian fishermen have sued Bumble Bee Seafoods for forced labour, alleging abuse and withheld wages on Chinese-owned vessels in its supply chain. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Over 1 in 5 young Indonesians are out of work. Fixing that won’t be easy

Southeast Asia’s largest economy has the world’s fourth-largest workforce, but it’s outshone by its neighbours like Malaysia and Thailand.

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Fame and celebrity

Meet Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the Trump pick Democrats, surprisingly, like

The mother of 2 advanced her political career with a little help from her Teamster father; she was also a partner in her doctor husband’s anaesthesiology business.

India

‘More dangerous than Covid’: outrage over call for 7-day work week in India

The comments betray a traditional mindset that equates productivity with long hours of work and are ‘removed from reality’, experts say.

Workers operate a machine at a manufacturing facility in Kanchipuram district in India. Photo: AFP
China jobs

China’s controversial jobless rate needs to be reformed, scholar urges

After a revamp of the youth-unemployment rate sparked concerns over data transparency, calls have come for comprehensive metrics to convey economic reality.

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People attend an October job fair in China’s Liaoning province. The nation’s youth-unemployment rate for those aged 16-24 has reflected a weakened job market in recent years. Photo: AFP
Australia

Inside the hidden world of modern slavery in Australia’s diplomatic heart

Recent court rulings reveal harrowing stories of abuse and neglect at the hands of envoys operating under diplomatic immunity in Canberra.

South Korea

Why will Filipino helpers earn more in South Korea than Hong Kong, Singapore?

Foreign domestic workers will enjoy high wages under a government pilot project – raising affordability concerns among Korean families seeking care.

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Australia

Sri Lanka defends envoy in Australia fined for ‘modern slavery’ of maid

The Federal Court of Australia found that Himalee Arunatilaka had breached the Fair Work Act, and was ordered to pay more than US$360,000 in back wages to her former housekeeper.

An Australia court found Himalee Arunatilaka breached the Fair Work Act, and was ordered to pay US$360,000 in back wages to her former housekeeper. Photo: Shutterstock
United Nations

Education, social welfare essential for Asia to grow rich, cope with ageing: UN

The UN report said that growth in productivity has slowed, hurting incomes and undermining the purchasing power of the region’s 2 billion workers.

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Pedicab drivers move on a street in Manila, Philippines. Economies in Asia and the Pacific need to do more to ensure workers get the education, training to raise incomes and ensure social equity, a UN report said on Tuesday. Photo: AP/File
Crime

Criminals reap US$236 billion in yearly profits from forced labour: UN agency

This is up by 37 per cent, or US$64 billion, compared with its last estimate published a decade ago in 2011, the International Labour Organization says.

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South Korea

South Korea doctors ask ILO to intervene as strike shows no signs of ending

The issue isn’t likely to be settled soon as President Yoon’s party has large public backing for the plan to increase medical school places, senior doctors say.

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